Juan Manuel Corchado: The Springer Nature publishing home withdraws 75 research by the rector of Salamanca and his collaborators for fraudulent practices | Science | EUROtoday

One of the primary scientific publishers on the earth, Springer Nature, has determined to instantly withdraw 75 scientific research by Juan Manuel Corchado, rector of the University of Salamanca, and his collaborators. The multinational started an investigation in May, after EL PAÍS revealed inner messages that confirmed that Corchado requested his employees for years so as to add dozens of mentions to their work in every research, as a way to faux to be one of the cited scientists. of the world. The variety of retracted research, unprecedented in Spain, makes the Corchado case the largest scandal identified in Spanish science.

Chris Graf, director of scientific integrity at Springer Nature, explains that the retraction of the 75 research is already underway. “Our investigation has identified several issues, including, but not limited to, questions about editorial handling, inappropriate or unusual citations, and undeclared conflicts of interest,” Graf notes. Corchado’s group organized a large number of conferences and took benefit of their proceedings, revealed by Springer Nature, so as to add strings of mentions to works by the present rector of Salamanca, even when that they had nothing to do with the subject. This newspaper already revealed in May that, in solely 75 publications, Corchado’s collaborators cited the Salamancan professor virtually 1,700 instances, a trick that made the present rector seem within the rankings worldwide as one of the cited scientists on the planet in his subject.

Some retractions have already been carried out, equivalent to that of a research on a know-how to categorise odors, signed by Corchado and with a dozen mentions of himself, and one other work by his collaborator Pablo Chamoso, on counting animals utilizing drones, with 22 quotes the professor from Salamanca. Chris Graf assures that Springer Nature takes the complaints it receives very critically. “Citations are an important element of academic research, to accurately acknowledge sources, provide context, offer evidence, create a research path for the benefit of other researchers, and evaluate impact. It is essential that they are applied appropriately and responsibly,” warns Graf.

One of the fathers of synthetic intelligence in Spain, Ramon López de Mántaras, asks the rector to just accept the info: “I’ve all the time had a really cordial relationship with Corchado and that’s the reason I really feel very dangerous that he has fallen into the lure of inflating his bibliometric indicators. He has let me down. If he had requested me for my opinion, I might have suggested him to acknowledge his mistake, as an alternative of fleeing ahead, and surrender his candidacy for rector to keep away from harming his college,” he says.

A report prepared at the request of the Spanish Research Ethics Committee certified in September the “deliberate” and “systematic” manipulation of Corchado’s resume. The 131-page document is signed by Emilio Delgado and Alberto Martín, two researchers from the University of Granada who are world experts in how to cheat to deceive people. rankings. Delgado and Martín concluded that Corchado and his collaborators organized “a publication and citation factory” with “strategies based on questionable publishing behavior and bad editorial practices, if not on openly fraudulent practices.”

Corchado’s response was a 54-page document, titled “In defense of my rights” and published on September 30. In this argument, the rector of Salamanca suggests that there is a conspiracy against him in which the Spanish Research Ethics Committee, EL PAÍS and the two professors from Granada participate. The reality is that Corchado’s traps revealed by this newspaper have already appeared in the international media, such as Science, Nature y Times Higher Education.

Ramon López de Mántaras founded the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona) three decades ago. “Anyone with half a brain can see that the report [de los expertos de Granada] It is impeccable and well argued. The members of the Spanish Research Ethics Committee that I know have irreproachable ethics and morals. It is not maintained that there is any type of dark collusion, it is a ridiculous argument,” says López de Mántaras, who is the only specialist outside of North America to have won the prestigious Robert S. Engelmore Prize, worth one million dollars.

The Spanish virologist Nonia Pariente has been dedicated to scientific journals for 16 years. She is the editor-in-chief of PLOS Biologyin Cambridge (United Kingdom), and before that it was Nature Microbiologyin London. “It is not understood that a person with these manifest bad practices can be allowed to be rector of a university,” he explains. “I find it embarrassing, but not strange. The way scientists are evaluated is terrible in many places, but particularly in Spain. There are people who publish terrible articles like hotcakes all the time, because it works for them in the ANECA evaluations,” he laments. The National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) is the entity that decides whether a professor can be promoted to full professor or whether he or she deserves salary increases.

Pariente considers that Corchado’s case is “a shame” for Spanish science. “What worries me a lot is that, even so, they voted for him to be rector. I am incredulous that those who voted for him did not see that this is a problem. The Spanish university and the rectors should mobilize,” urges the editor. “If I were Corchado, I would resign.”

If I were Corchado, I would resign

Nonia Pariente, editor-in-chief of ‘PLOS Biology’

The professor from Salamanca considers the retraction of 75 studies by his group “a minor issue.” “We neither share nor accept the withdrawal of these articles, perfectly reviewed in peer evaluation processes and whose references are totally necessary. In any case, the elimination of these articles, a few dozen among the thousands that we have published, represents a tiny number of them. Specifically, in my case there are a dozen articles in workshops, in which I am neither the corresponding author nor the first author, out of almost a thousand in which I have collaborated,” he stated in his document of September 30.

The biologist Isidro Aguillo, head of the Cybermetrics Laboratory of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), updates a ranking of the most cited Spanish researchers, with data from Google Scholar. Corchado appeared in 157th place out of a total of 123,000 scientists, until the professor from Salamanca deactivated his profile upon learning that EL PAÍS was investigating his practices. Aguillo is very forceful: “I am especially concerned about the lack of response from the academic community, both local and national. It is regrettable that the umbrella of impunity that protects inbred prevarication and nepotism extends to fraud and manipulation.”

Corchado not only organized what is called a citation cartel (a group of researchers in cahoots to cite each other), he also benefited from about 30 fake profiles of invented scientists dedicated to citing him en masse on the ResearchGate social network. In addition, Corchado, professor of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, uploaded a multitude of documents full of self-citations to his university’s GREDOS scientific repository, such as a paragraph on intelligent buildings with 227 mentions of himself.

It is regrettable that the umbrella of impunity extends to fraud and manipulation

Isidro Aguillo, head of the CSIC Cybermetrics Laboratory

Thanks to these practices, he boasted of being the fourth most cited scientist in Spain in his field. The second most cited was Enrique Herrera Viedma, who has already retracted a study signed with Corchado, in which more than 50% of the quotes were dedicated to the professor from Salamanca. Herrera assumed the duties of rector of the University of Granada in September.

Corchado declares himself the victim of a smear campaign. “I have reported threats against my physical integrity received through my personal email, linked to my candidacy for rector of the University of Salamanca. These threats, sent from anonymous accounts, contained messages urging me to end my life,” he says. The rector from Salamanca also claims that his identity has been stolen. “All crimes have been reported to the competent police and judicial authorities, and are in the investigation phase, so I cannot offer more information,” he maintains in his response titled “In defense of my rights.”

The epidemiologist Cristina Candal, from the University of Santiago de Compostela, has dedicated her doctoral thesis to misconduct in scientific research. He has no doubts regarding the Corchado case. “It is clearly scientific misconduct. It is a subpoena cartel to manipulate the system for your personal benefit. With these inflated indicators you get more financing and a better salary. It is completely unfair competition. It is not ethical at all,” he says.

Candal acknowledges that ANECA is taking steps to stop evaluating scientists by weight, but urges more profound changes to be made. “Corchado is a symptom of the system. These things happen more than we think,” he warns. The expert recalls that the Spanish Research Ethics Committee, an independent body created a year ago by the Government and the autonomous communities, can issue reports and recommendations, but little else. Candal suggests giving it sanctioning power, like the Office of Scientific Integrity that oversees the United States public health system. “The ethics committee, when push comes to shove, can’t do anything. It is visible. It’s as if the speed cameras, every time they catch you speeding, take a photo of you, but they don’t fine you. If sanctions are not imposed, there will continue to be scientific misconduct,” he warns.

The teacher from Santiago de Compostela believes that Corchado should resign. “Who has the power to fire the rector? The damage goes beyond him, he is damaging his own institution and the entire Spanish university system. The international media is taking notice. It seems very strong to me that Corchado is still there as head of one of the most important university institutions in this country,” he laments.

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