Filed a grievance by the rector of Salamanca towards his biography of Wikipedia | Science | EUROtoday

The engineer Rodrigo Santamaría, a professor on the University of Salamanca, obtained an sudden name from the National Police on Monday, November 18, 2024. On the opposite facet of the cellphone, an inspector introduced that the rector of the Salamanca establishment, Juan Manuel Corchado, had denounced his personal biography of Wikipedia for an alleged crime of slander. Santamaría was the writer of that web page, an aseptic textual content that was restricted to summarizing the information: that the rector is among the most cited scientists on this planet within the area of laptop science, however as a result of “allegedly inflates their figures with false profiles and demands that their workers quote.” The professor agreed to go to the police station and declared earlier than two law enforcement officials that these knowledge have been of public curiosity and well-known by information within the press. The head of the Court of Instruction quantity 3 of Salamanca has decreed the dismissal of Corchado’s grievance, after verifying that the Wikipedia article was not constitutive of any crime.

Critical lecturers with their administration imagine that the rector intends to intimidate the few who dare to ask for his or her resignation in public. “Its purpose is to scare,” summarizes Santamaría. This newspaper has requested Corchado, his lawyer and his chief of cupboard which have been the alleged slander current in Wikipedia, with out receiving a solution.

The rector has starred in a scandal in Spanish science. The nation revealed inner messages a yr in the past that confirmed that Corchado had organized a relationship cartel to himself. For years, he demanded that his staff quote as much as 20 occasions in every research. In addition, it benefited from a large number of false profiles of non -existent scientists, created to compulsively point out corchado works. Thus turned probably the most cited scientific fourth in Spain and one of the talked about 250 on the planet in its area, receiving thousands and thousands of euros of public financing. Springer Nature Editorial determined in October to withdraw 75 research from the rector of Salamanca and its collaborators after verifying these fraudulent practices.

Despite the revelation of their traps, disseminated all through the world in prestigious specialised magazines comparable to Science, Nature y Times Higher EducationCorchado refuses to resign and has the assist of the president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, of the Popular Party. The writer of the Wikipedia web page, Rodrigo Santamaría, 44, was one of many few lecturers of Salamanca who publicly requested signatures to request the Minister of Science, Diana Morant, and the president of the Conference of Rectors of the Spanish Universities, Eva Alcón, a definitive investigation into the crown practices. Santamaría shared that manifesto in his social networks on November 7. Just a few days later he obtained police name.

The letter despatched to the nationwide authorities implored assist, given the complicity of the autonomous authorities, which collaborates with the rector in an city operation to construct a brand new campus. “Do not clarify the facts […] It transmits the idea that the responsible institutions tolerate fraud and offer impunity, ”warned the letter, which requested the creation of a state instance with sanctioning capacity and effective mechanisms to avoid traps. Corchado, which manages a budget of 300 million euros per year, even appeared in a photo on page 3 of the electoral program of the Popular Party for the municipal elections of May 2023.

“We are conscious of the college autonomy and the function of the autonomous communities, however we estimate that the Ministry has the duty to intervene, as a result of these unhealthy practices search to intentionally alter the competitiveness within the granting of public funds of analysis, in addition to entry to the locations of official and/or employed profess December.

Four months later, the professors haven’t obtained any response, neither from the minister nor from the president of the rectors, in response to José María Díaz Mínguez, professor of genetics on the University of Salamanca and one other of the promoters of the Charter. More than a thousand scientists from throughout Spain signed the Manifesto, together with Ana Crespo, president of the Royal Academy of Sciences; Joan Elías, former rector of the University of Barcelona; Salaburu pello, exrector of the University of the Basque Country; and Alfonso Valencia, director of the National Institute of Bioinformatics. “That man is a shame for the university,” says Salaburu.

Before the query of whether or not the Ministry of Science will tackle the request of the thousand signatories, a spokesman responds: “Scrupulous respect for university autonomy enshrined in the Spanish Constitution that guarantees the independence of universities in our country. Respect for the process through which each university community decides how it has to choose that person who represents the best and best can govern it. For this ministry, in any case, any person chosen in any case. Rector or rector must live up to the values ​​that the university community represents. ” Corchado appeared in May 2024 as the only real candidate for the elections to rector, receiving the assist of 6.5% of the 33,000 college college students who have been summoned to vote, with a historic clean vote of half of the educating employees.

The University of Salamanca introduced in September a quick report that excerned its rector, ready by an previous acquaintance. The Spanish Research Ethics Committee – an unbiased physique created in 2023 by the Government and the Autonomous Communities – rejected that insubstantial report and requested an genuine neutral investigation, earlier than “the alleged gravity” of the information. Two reputed bibliometry specialists from the University of Granada, Emilio Delgado and Alberto Martín, analyzed the manufacturing of corchado on the request of the committee and authorized the “deliberate manipulation” and “systematic” of their curriculum. In November, the president of the Ethics Committee, Jordi Camí, stated in an interview with El País: “It is an unusual situation that demonstrates that university autonomy, a great conquest to preserve, should have some reasonable limits that would allow to address this type of situations.”

The rejection of the rector’s traps is widespread. The Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain (Cosce) issued in June a forceful assertion asking for brand new rectoral elections. “His reputation as a researcher is clearly and seriously questioned, which undoubtedly splashes the reputation of the University of Salamanca itself and, by extension, that of the Spanish university as a whole, both nationally and internationally,” the Cosce then warned, a corporation that encompasses 88 societies that signify greater than 40,000 scientists.

Corchado’s technique has been to declare himself from an alleged defamation marketing campaign. “I have been a victim of crimes of impersonation of identity, against honor and image and threats against my physical integrity, as well as the violation of my right to the protection of personal data. All crimes have been denounced before the competent police and judicial authorities, and are in the investigation phase, so I cannot offer more data,” he stated on September 30.

The rector has simply promoted an informative blackout on the University of Salamanca. Until now, the governing council conferences of the establishment have been broadcast dwell for everybody on YouTube. On March 27, this organ determined to cease issuing its classes, due to the votes of the members of the Corchado group and the delegates appointed by him.

The Complutense University of Madrid additionally led to September 2024 with the general public broadcasts of the conferences of its Governing Council, claiming “the protection of image rights of the directors,” explains a spokesman. However, within the case of the Madrid establishment, they proceed to be issued with restricted entry to the college neighborhood. In Salamanca, nobody can see what’s being talked about at conferences, in response to José Antonio Sendín, professor of Philosophy of Law and President of the Company Committee of the Teaching and Researcher Staff of the Salamanca University. “It has also been approved that the recordings of the governing council meetings, once used to make the transcription in the minutes, are destroyed. It is an absolutely illegal measure,” he warns. Corchado himself voted by hand in favor of canceling broadcasts, as may very well be seen within the final public broadcast, which has already been erased from the Internet.