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Five jumbled up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

  1. There is a dark side to academic research, especially in India, and at its centre is the phenomenon of predatory journals.
  2. But in truth, as long as you pay, you can get anything published.
  3. In look and feel thus, they are exactly like any reputed journal.
  4. They claim to be indexed in the most influential databases, say they possess editorial boards that comprise top scientists and researchers, and claim to have a rigorous peer-review structure.
  5. But a large section of researchers and scientists across the world are at the receiving end of nothing short of an academic publishing scam.

Entered answer:

Solution

βœ… Correct Answer: 5

We need to find which sentence doesn't fit with the other four to form a coherent paragraph. From passage: "There is a dark side to academic research, especially in India, and at its centre is the phenomenon of predatory journals."

The key here is scope consistency. Sentence 1 sets up the topic -> predatory journals specifically in India. Nowwe need to see which sentences follow this India-focused discussion.

Logical flow process:

  • Sentence 1 -> introduces problem (predatory journals in India)
  • Sentence 4 -> describes what these journals claim to be
  • Sentence 3 -> explains how they look legitimate
  • Sentence 2 -> reveals the harsh reality (pay to publish)

This creates a perfect flow: problem introduction -> false claims -> fake appearance -> ugly truth


The elimination process:

🟒 Sentences 1, 2, 3, 4 -> All stay focused on the India-specific context and flow logically from introduction to revelation

πŸ”΄ Sentence 5 -> scope-error -> shifts from "especially in India" to "across the world" - this breaks the geographical focus and doesn't connect smoothly with the India-specific discussion

The passage maintains tight focus on India's predatory journal problem, but sentence 5 suddenly jumps to a global perspective without any transition, making it the odd one out.

Answer: 5

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