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.

  • @NOT_RICK
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    473 months ago

    What a farce of a nation

  • @Stamau123
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    363 months ago

    “What do you mean I can’t bribe people to be smarter?”

  • Cruxifux
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    303 months ago

    Saudi Arabia run a country without involving some kind of ridiculous elaborate scam for no reason challenge: impossible

  • @Nastybutler
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    163 months ago

    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.

  • @gibmiser
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    103 months ago

    When all you have is a hammer

  • @someguy3
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    63 months ago

    Lolol. I don’t even think that would accomplish what they wanted, you want the actual university.

  • @[email protected]
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    33 months ago

    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?