A soil scientist who resigned from several journals in 2017 after being linked to manipulated citations has been appointed to the editorial board of a journal copublished by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media.
International Soil and Water Conservation Research announced in April that Artemi Cerdà would serve as an editorial board member, describing him as a “renowned researcher” in the field of soil erosion and land management. The appointment comes eight years after Cerdà, of the University of Valencia, in Spain, was found to have manipulated citations in favor of his own work and journals with which he was associated.
While Cerdà has not responded to our questions about his appointment, a spokesperson for Elsevier acknowledged Cerdà’s history but defended the decision, writing that researchers “grow into their roles through participation and learning.” The spokesperson continued:
[The] Editors believe it is reasonable to consider individuals for roles based on current willingness to uphold standards and accept the journal’s ethical policies, rather than excluding them indefinitely for past actions.
Prof. Cerdà was invited to join the editorial board following a nomination and review by the Editors-in-Chief, due to his recognized expertise in soil and water conservation, strong alignment with the journal’s scope, and ongoing scientific contributions. While past misconduct from nearly a decade ago is taken seriously, he has demonstrated the necessary commitment to standards, and the journal has a strict monitoring plan in place.
Elsevier declined to elaborate on what the “strict monitoring plan” involves, citing confidentiality.
As a “safeguard,” Cerdà will not handle any final manuscript decisions, only conducting reviews and providing editorial recommendations, Paige Chyu, the executive editor of International Soil and Water Conservation Research, told us in an email.
“We believe that protecting the integrity of the scholarly record must be balanced with a framework that allows redemption and learning, under strict oversight,” she wrote, adding that to their knowledge, no policy prevents individuals with prior misconduct from serving in editorial roles at other journals.
“[A]fter a decade, scientists who demonstrate a willingness to reform should be given an opportunity to re-enter the editorial community to constructively contribute to the community,” she wrote.
The journal made the appointment despite Cerdà’s role in a citation scandal involving several journals. In early 2017, the European Geosciences Union began looking into an anonymous report about an alleged citation cartel among its soil science journals. As we reported at the time, an unnamed editor stepped down from two EGU journals, SOIL and Solid Earth, for manipulating citations.
EGU later named Cerdà as the only culprit, finding that in 41 reviews for which he had served as a topical editor, he had suggested more than 600 extra references, mostly to his own work or papers from Land Degradation and Development (LDD), where he was editor-in-chief. On another 38 manuscripts on which he was a reviewer, he had suggested authors include more than 400 extra references, most to LDD papers.
While the authors didn’t add all the suggested references, Cerdà’s actions drove LDD’s impact factor up from 3.1 to 8.1 within a single year. At the time, the case was the catalyst for Elsevier to question thousands of reviewers and their suggested citations in a broader analysis.
Cerdà also resigned from the editorial board of Geoderma, and stepped down from his leadership position at LDD. Cerdà has defended his actions, telling us he did not force authors to include his suggested citations. “I suggest to read – not to cite – other work,” he told us at the time.
At Geoderma, an Elsevier journal, 13 articles he reviewed were published with a total of 83 “unwarranted” citations — 75 of which he was either the coauthor of the paper or was an editor at the journal where the cited paper was published, according to a 2018 editorial. The then-editor-in-chief Jan-Willem van Groenigen wrote Cerdà would no longer be considered as a reviewer, author or editor at the journal “for the foreseeable future” and “will only be allowed to take on these roles once we are convinced that there will be no repeat of the misconduct.” He encouraged other editors to take similar action.
Groenigen, speaking in a personal capacity, told us he believes the quality of a journal is a reflection of its team. A “history of scientific conduct (or misconduct) should therefore be an important criterion,” he said. Groenigen noted Cerdà’s history of conduct is “readily accessible,” including in our coverage.
The University of Valencia listed Cerdà among its most highly cited scientists in 2024. On PubPeer, anonymous commenters are still questioning his publication record, flagging what they describe as “extensive, irrelevant and bizarre” citations in two recent papers he coauthored.
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Intentional wrongdoings and unintentional mistakes should not be weighted equally. A person who was brazenly involved in a serious unethical act like citations gaming should not be hired for a serious and responsible role of editor.
Agree but there is a more serious problem here. Some managers would intentionally hire a tainted researcher which they can manipulate (themselves) as they want – to do the dirty work.
I was on the board of one of these journals at the time, and I don’t see why he should be involved in any editorial activities now.