One of the world’s most cited scientists, Rafael Luque, suspended without pay for 13 years
Researchers are #evaluated by the #number of studies they #publish in #peer-#reviewed journals and by the number of times these papers are #cited by other colleagues.
The well-intentioned mechanism, however, has produced adverse effects, as explained by the British engineer Nick Wise, a researcher at Cambridge University who, in his spare time, seeks out fraud in science.
Wise has uncovered shady “#factories of scientific studies,” produced by #copying and #pasting other studies or by automatic #text #generators, and whose authorship is secretly #sold for hundreds or thousands of dollars to inflate resumes.
“I found a study by Rafael Luque whose authorship had previously been offered in a group on [the messaging platform] #Telegram,” Wise said
https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-04-02/one-of-the-worlds-most-cited-scientists-rafael-luque-suspended-without-pay-for-13-years.html