Genome Biology, Genome Research, NAR, OUP Bioinformatics, PLoS Computational Biology, EMBO, elife, Molecular Cell, Nat Comms. These are these are pretty much the only sorts journals our internal REF panel cares about. So far, I don't think paper mills are common at this type of journal.
We've found suspect papers in at least one of the journals above (unpublished data for the moment, to be written up soon). Paper mills are likely to target high impact journals, for the same reasons as many researchers.
I'll look out for your piece. I don't doubt paper mills target high impact journals, but I would have thought it harder to get through at some journals than others. I deliberately didn't include things like CNS in that list, but journals where I've been on both ends of the editorial process.
Having recieved reviews and seen the reviews others recieve (as a fellow reviewer) and how the editors handle them. I might even know some of the editors. I'm sure it's not foolproof, but I can't believe the rate of milled papers is as high as such venues as some others.
I agree, rates of milled papers in high impact journals are likely to vary. As milled papers get "better" and more convincing, their numbers could rise in "better" journals. Thinking "paper mills happen to others, not to us" seems like a mistake. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
So DORA is entirely ignored by the REF and the institutions that follow it, despite being signatories. We need to publish a lot, and in high IF journals. Those two things are hard to achieve at the same time without a lot of money...
I wouldn't say that DORA is ignored by REF or the institutions per se, more that the individuals on the internal REF panels more or less ignore what they are told by the instution. Not that I blame them, given the number of articles they are given to assess and the time line.
That said, we are not expected to have both volume and quality. The "your job is in trouble" threshold is one 3* in a five year period. The promotion threshold is two 3.5-4* in each two year rolling period. That takes grants, but you'll be in trouble quicker for not having grants, than papers.