On January 9, 2026, Professor Ihor Serdyuk wrote an article about the Republic of Murinoa for the journal "National Interests of Ukraine".
He did not choose the pseudonym "Sokalenko" by chance. He was inspired to provoke by the "Sokalʼs joke" — an experiment conducted more than 30 years ago by the American physicist Alan Sokal. He wrote a pseudoscientific article, full of theories and clichés popular at the time, and published it in the journal Social Text.
The article was a great success, until Sokal himself exposed himself and thus proved that editors publish texts that coincide with their own prejudices, it is not necessary to delve into the essence.
Professor, lecturer at the Kyiv School of Economics Ihor Serdyuk.
Unlike Sokal, who had to write the article himself, Serdyuk used ChatGPT — in half an hour, artificial intelligence generated material about Murinoa, her struggle for independence and the path to prosperity, despite the pressure of a cruel colonialist.
The conclusions were striking in their scientific and life depth: in order to survive during a war or blockade, it is important to have your own food sources, support local producers and not forget about partners. The relevance of the scientific work was added by the fact that Sokalenko proposed to use Murinoaʼs unique recipes for success in modern Ukraine.
Serdyuk gave a hint to potential reviewers who read articles before publication in scientific collections. In the English-language abstract, he directly wrote that Murinoa is a fictional Pacific country. The professor indicated that Sokalenkoʼs place of work was the Volyn History Museum, which also does not exist.
This is what the Republic of Murinoa could be like if it existed.
Згенеровано за допомогою ШІ / «Бабель»
The professor sent the article to the journal on a Friday evening, when no editorial board could meet after hours to review the material.
And within seven minutes he received a response. The article was approved for publication and details for payment were sent — UAH 1 200. A few weeks later, the material was published in the first issue of the journal "National Interests of Ukraine" for 2026.
According to the rules, this process should have looked different. First, the scientific article had to be checked for formal criteria, for example, whether it corresponded to the declared topic, and then it was submitted for review to independent experts, candidates or doctors of science.
They had to read the text, assess the novelty, sources, logic and compliance with ethical standards, give their recommendations for improvement, point out the strengths and weaknesses. And only after that the editorial board decides: to accept the article, send it for revision or reject it.
The article about a non-existent country was published by a magazine that is part of the Scientific Perspectives publishing group.
The group unites a network of ten magazines in various fields — from the humanities to economics, medicine, psychology, and law. The publishing group has been operating since 2020.
The most famous magazine has the same name — “Scientific Perspectives". In 2025, more than a thousand articles were published in 12 issues of the magazine, written by more than one and a half thousand authors.
What famous Ukrainians write about in scientific articles
Valerii Zaluzhny: "Moscow diplomacy as a tool of hybrid war against Ukraine: countermeasure strategy and lessons for protecting national interests."
Davyd Arakhamia: "Specifics of the activities of deputy factions acting as coalitions in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine."
Oleksandr Pivnenko: "Strategic directions for the development of mechanisms for implementing state policy in the field of overcoming the consequences of military actions in Ukraine."
Kateryna Usyk: "Psychological features of emotional maturity of police officers: gender aspect."
Denys Komarnytskyi: "Administrative and legal characteristics of the classification of public administration functions."
Famous Ukrainians are published in the journals of “Scientific Perspectives”: Ambassador Valerii Zaluzhny, MP Davyd Arakhamia, Major General Oleksandr Pivnenko and Kateryna Usyk.
Among the authors, we even found Denys Komarnytskyi, a former deputy of the Kyiv City Council, who in 2025 was suspected by NABU of fraud with land and real estate.
Babel does not analyze their works and does not claim that they do not have scientific novelty — this is the work of professional scientists.
The reason why many authors choose the journals of “Scientific Perspectives” is that most of them have category “B”. That is, they have been checked by the Ministry of Education and Science, approved and included in the appropriate list. The publishing group declares cooperation not only with Ukrainian universities, but also with educational institutions in Poland, the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan.
The editorial boards of the journals include real scientists — candidates of sciences and university teachers. For them, this is also a plus in scientific resumes without unnecessary effort. Reading the works is not necessary.
Scientific articles by famous Ukrainians.
«Babel'»
For many scientists, publications in such journals are a necessity or an opportunity to easily receive various bonuses.
Without articles in scientific journals, it will not be possible to defend a dissertation — this usually requires at least three publications. It is also about money. Authors are not paid anything for publications, but they open the way to a scientific degree and academic title, which provide for additional payments.
Publications are also important for universities and scientific institutions: they confirm the formal status of scientific or scientific-pedagogical employees, and therefore the right to occupy certain positions and receive professional preferences. For example, a lower academic load — conditionally 500 hours per year instead of 900.
Such conveyor publishing groups are a profitable business.
Sokalenko paid UAH 1 200 for one article in “National Interests of Ukraine”. The issue contained 128 articles, meaning one issue cost UAH 154 000. In total, the publishing group has ten magazines, all monthly.
The publishing group is headed by Iryna Zhukova.
She has two higher educations with honors — a masterʼs degree in automation and a specialist in law, both of which she received from the National Aviation University. Zhukova also defended her PhD thesis in public administration. She has many state awards for scientific and public activities, including the Prize of the President of Ukraine for Young Scientists and the Prize of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Young Scientists.
The head of "Scientific Perspectives" Iryna Zhukova.
In 2021, information appeared that Zhukovaʼs doctoral dissertation on public administration had signs of plagiarism. The dissertation was mentioned against the background of the Bihus.Info investigation into the dissertation of the MP Illya Kyva. Zhukova was his opponent in Kyvaʼs defense of her candidateʼs thesis and gave a favorable review of the work.
And before that, according to other persons involved in the investigation, she helped falsify the documents that the MP needed for the defense.
Babel reached out to Iryna Zhukova for comment. We asked her directly how the article about the fictional country appeared on the pages of her magazine.
She initially refused to comment on the work of the publishing group, and later blocked the issue. The next day, March 3, Vasyl Sokalenko received a letter from “Scientific Perspektives”. He was informed that after reviewing the evidence base of the article, the publishing group decided to withdraw it.
A letter from "Scientific Perspectives" stating that no evidence of Murinoaʼs existence could be found.