Dozens of the world’s most cited scientists stop falsely claiming to work in Saudi Arabia
Dozens of the world’s most cited scientists stop falsely claiming to work in Saudi Arabia
This newspaper unveiled that Saudi universities were paying up to €70,000 a year to prestigious researchers to artificially pump up Arab institutions in international academic rankings
Summary
The number of highly cited scientists falsely claiming Saudi university affiliations has dropped 76% following revelations of a scheme where researchers were paid up to €70,000 annually to boost Saudi institutions’ global rankings.
The scandal, exposed by EL PAÍS, led to stricter scrutiny by Clarivate, which excluded 2,000 researchers from its 2024 list for misconduct.
Saudi institutions like King Saud University and King Abdulaziz University saw dramatic declines in listed scientists, jeopardizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s goal of top-ranking universities.
The crackdown highlights widespread manipulation in academic rankings.
What a farce of a nation
"What do you mean I can't bribe people to be smarter?"
Sounds like a scene from "the dictator"!
Saudi Arabia run a country without involving some kind of ridiculous elaborate scam for no reason challenge: impossible
Pathetic. Instead of the royal family investing their unimaginable wealth into the dumpsterfire of an education system, and the country as a whole, they do this fucking shit to fake looking developed, instead of actually improving the country. Why? because they can't stand the mere thought of giving up even an ounce of their wealth, even if it means countless will suffer, and die.
They are parasites, and shit like this is why we are one of the most embarrassing countries on the world stage.
Saudi Arabia is like Las Vegas. As long as people think it's classy and rich and exciting, it doesn't matter if it actually is. The facade is all they care about. The substance is irrelevant. What a soulless bunch of losers.
When all you have is a hammer
Lolol. I don't even think that would accomplish what they wanted, you want the actual university.
Hmmm, I wonder if they'd pay up to 70,000 a year to any of us to claim that we're posting from there?