A prolific Saudi pharmacy professor published over 200 papers in the last four years, but in recent months the quality of these papers has come into question.
Nabil Alhakamy, a dean of research and higher education at King AbdulAziz University’s Faculty of Pharmacy, has had more than 20 articles retracted — the most recent of which came on January 30 in AAPS PharmSciTech.
The journal analyzed the images and figures in the article and found three had been published previously and that an outside lab used to collect some of the data had “made a mistake by sending images of other work in the service lab,” according to the retraction notice.
Alhakamy’s spate of retractions started in November 2022 after PubPeer users started commenting on Alhakamy’s papers from 2020. Many of his articles overlapped significantly with previously published work or included duplicated photos and figures.
In the following weeks, the blog For Better Science published a story about fraudulent researchers that mentioned Alhakamy and his prolific publishing. The Saudi scientist has published 219 papers since 2020, for a rate of more than an article per week.
According to his LinkedIn page, Alhakamy founded the Drug Research and Pharmaceutical Industries Center at King AbdulAziz University in 2020. He did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
One of Alhakamy’s frequent co-authors is his KAU colleague Usama Fahmy, whose publishing record also includes several retractions. Retraction Watch was unable to reach Fahmy or any other co-authors on these retracted papers.
Alhakamy had published four articles in AAPS PharmSciTech. Three have been retracted, all for image issues. Robert Williams III, the AAPS PharmSciTech editor-in-chief, declined to answer questions about whether the journal would publish articles by Alhakamy in the future.
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Only in recent months, the quality of these papers has come into question?! The moment someone as busy as a university dean affords to publish 50 papers a year, questions should be asked.
What really burns me — and all the articles like it — is seeing all of this stuff and then hearing some moron say, “…just believe the science!”
Due to stagnant salaries and lack of raises over the past decade, faculty members are compelled to prioritize publishing for their survival. Programs such as RSP, IFKSU, and RG often prioritize payment and publication, particularly from scholars in developing nations. These retractions serve as only a fraction of the broader issue, highlighting organized scientific misconduct aimed at boosting rankings.
The professor was from Saudi Arabia!!! Really want to say the poor quality of his work is due to him being underpaid?
Hello. Everyday I receive an email from American Journals and they are just beging for money and they never look for the quality and surity, but no one blame them. You just check every day emails, you will receive email from fraudulent journal with majority from US and second is indian. Although Saudi people also practice wrong.
This is not only a publication fraud, these papers were funded financially. This is a corruption case.