Scientific Research Fraud Perpetrators Issue Clarification on Threads

Regarding the scientific research fraud at the international conference for pneumonia experts, ISPPD, held from 17-21 May 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the perpetrators—Prihantini, Rifaldy Fajar, and Rini Winarti—have issued a clarification via Threads under the names Rifaldy and Team.

In a carousel of clarification photos, they apologised for the incident that caused a stir in the research world.

‘With the utmost humility, we sincerely apologise to all parties for the controversy and commotion arising from our international conference activities,’ the statement read.

They further apologised that their participation in the conference was intended to secure travel grants and opportunities to travel abroad.

‘We also apologise for the excessive and inappropriate use of AI in several abstracts and presentations, including the falsifying of AI in the research preparation, framing, and representation. This has resulted in some of our works not being prepared to the required academic transparency standards,’ they added.

They also apologised for their lack of understanding and ethics in conducting research and academic activities. Regarding affiliations, they apologised for listing institutions without permission or official involvement.

‘The errors were entirely our fault,’ the statement clarified.

They also apologised for using affiliations from independent research communities that caused confusion, implying they were official institutions.

Additionally, they admitted to listing names of individuals who did not attend or were not directly involved in certain conference activities, as well as having one person represent multiple authors in presentations. These were their mistakes.

‘We also apologise that our actions have caused disappointment and damaged trust in academic integrity. We deeply regret all actions and decisions made. We are committed to not repeating such mistakes and will take this incident as a major life lesson,’ the statement continued.

‘Once again, we apologise to all affected parties, including institutions, individuals, conference committees, the academic community, and the wider public. Thank you,’ they concluded.

Furthermore, it was reported that numerous irregularities occurred among the unidentified researchers at the time.