Here are three rather solid ways to tell if you are looking at junk science, which will hold *99.9999999% of the time.
1. The study was carried out over a decade before it got published. This means one thing: the work has been rejected by more reputable journals than you can shake a fist at.
2. Almost every peer reviewed study referenced by the paper was published over a decade ago. This means one thing: the author is ignoring all of the later studies that contradict those he is citing.
3. The paper is published in a predatory open access journal. This means one thing: the study received minimal peer review in exchange for cash payment from the study’s authors.