Search Results for: masoud afrand

Deputy minister in Iraq losing papers with signs of paper mill involvement

A high-ranking official at Iraq’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has earned six retractions over the past two years for issues including citation stuffing and “suspicious” authorship changes after articles were accepted. Both practices are warning signs of a paper mill at play. At least two of the official’s retracted works appeared in … Continue reading Deputy minister in Iraq losing papers with signs of paper mill involvement

Researcher linked to paper mill activity mysteriously reappeared on list of journal’s editorial board

An engineer accused of being involved in paper mill activities mysteriously reappeared on a list of editorial board members at Springer Nature’s Scientific Reports earlier this year, Retraction Watch has learned. The journal had “parted ways” with the engineer, Masoud Afrand of the Islamic Azad University in Iran, in March 2022 after an internal audit … Continue reading Researcher linked to paper mill activity mysteriously reappeared on list of journal’s editorial board

Elsevier journal issues 73 expressions of concern for manipulated peer review

An Elsevier journal has expressed concern over 73 papers with evidence of manipulated peer-review and rigged citations.   Last July, we reported that Masoud Afrand, a former member of the editorial board of Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements, had been linked to paper mill activity. At the time, Alexander Cheng, the journal’s editor in chief said … Continue reading Elsevier journal issues 73 expressions of concern for manipulated peer review

Journal asks scientist to step down from editorial board after sleuth’s comments linked him to paper mill

An engineering researcher has stepped down from an editorial board at the request of a journal’s leadership following a sleuth’s comment on a Retraction Watch post linking him to paper mill activity.  Masoud Afrand, an assistant professor of engineering at the Islamic Azad University in Iran, was, until recently, on the editorial board of the … Continue reading Journal asks scientist to step down from editorial board after sleuth’s comments linked him to paper mill

Editorial board member dropped from journal site after Retraction Watch-Undark report links him to paper mill

The journal Scientific Reports removed a scientist linked to paper mill activity from its editorial board last year, but didn’t take his name off the web page until last month, after a Retraction Watch-Undark story pointed out his association.  The former editorial board member, Masoud Afrand, is an assistant professor of engineering at the Islamic … Continue reading Editorial board member dropped from journal site after Retraction Watch-Undark report links him to paper mill