La revista Science del 9 de diciembre pasado contenía una información notable por lo que representra como tip del iceberg llamado publicaciones-citas-impacto ISI. Muestra que universidades con poder de compra están ahora en el mercado para adquirir firmas de reputados científicos, a los cuale se les paga por agregar, en sus publicaciones ISI, el nombre de la universidad (compradora) al lado de la suya donde auténticamente se halla contratado y que puede ser Harvard o Yale o Stanford o Berkeley u Oxford o Cambridge.
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Science 9 December 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6061 pp. 1344-1345
DOI: 10.1126/science.334.6061.1344

Citation Impact: Saudi Universities Offer Cash in Exchange for Academic Prestige
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
More than 60 top-ranked researchers from different scientific disciplines—all on the Institute for Scientific Information’s (ISI’s) highly cited list—have recently signed part-time employment arrangements with King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in which they agree to add KAU as a second affiliation to their names on ISI’s list of highly cited researchers. Meanwhile, a bigger, more prominent Saudi institution—King Saud University in Riyadh—has climbed several hundred places in international rankings in the past 4 years largely through initiatives specifically targeted toward attaching KSU’s name to research publications, regardless of whether the work involved any meaningful collaboration with KSU researchers. Academics both inside and outside Saudi Arabia warn that such practices could detract from the genuine efforts that Saudi Arabia’s universities are making to transform themselves into world-class research centers.
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RESPUESTAS DE LAS DOS UNIVERSIDADES MENCIONADAS POR SCIENCE
Clarification regarding Science magazine article on Saudi Universities
King Abdilaziz University
In response to Science magazine’s recent article that charged that King Abdulaziz University (KAU) hired highly cited researchers part-time as a means of improving its international university ranking and in the name of transparency, credibility and academic honesty, the University would like to declare the following:
1. KAU has contracted some highly cited researchers to work with it on a part-time basis. This arrangement is legitimate and exists in many top-notch universities around the world. The International Advisory Board (IAB) of KAU has recommended these types of arrangements in order to promote scientific research at the University.
2. Attracting highly cited researchers from various international universities and research centers is part of KAU’s research strategy. This strategy includes:
• Formation of research groups from KAU faculty to collaborate with international researchers;
• A Post-Doctoral Research Program;
• International supervision for graduate student theses;
• Publishing international specialized scientific journals such as the Mathematics Journal which is published by Springer, the international science publisher;
• Requiring non-Saudi faculty to publish in their fields in order for their contracts to be renewed; the same condition applies to Saudis in order for them to receive scientific benefits;
• Motivating faculty and graduate students to publish their research work through the Scientific Research Prize Program;
• Establishing an international advisory board for each of the Centers of Research Excellence; these boards are made up of selected international researchers;
• Cooperation with universities from more than 15 countries to conduct cooperative and meaningful research work. Such cooperation has resulted in the Chair of Ethics and Finance at the Sorbonne University in France, and the Saudi Spanish Islamic Economics Center at IE University in Spain. There are other programs with Utrecht University in Holland, Helsinki University and Alto University in Finland, and Tokai University in Japan.
3. Distinguished researchers who sign contracts with KAU commit to the following:
• Conducting a research project in Saudi Arabia with a formally reviewed and approved research proposal;
• Collaborating with, at least, two Saudi faculty members in conducting the project;
• Conducting the project in Saudi Arabia according to the research interests of KAU;
• Supervising graduate students;
• Delivering lectures and holding workshops;
• Participating in the councils of the Centers of Research Excellence at KAU;
• Participating in the editorial boards of KAU journals.
4. KAU has not developed this program with the aim of raising its international university ranking. If that were the goal, it would have been done many years ago. KAU has waited until now to launch its program to ensure that attracting international scholars will truly help develop local scientific research. Without the establishment of the research infrastructure, this could not be accomplished. This is what KAU has concentrated on for the past few years.
5. Science magazine has not officially communicated with KAU as was stated in the article.
6. Scientific publication at KAU increased from 400 research papers to 550 papers in the last year. This was before the Highly Cited Researcher Program began. It is a natural increase in the rate of scientific publication at KAU, and it indicates that scientific publishing is not an aim in itself. The aim is to conduct scientific research.
7. More than 50 research proposals have been submitted to the Deanship of Scientific Research and to King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in which the KAU “highly cited researchers” are participating.
8. Industrial products are expected to emerge from the international cooperation.
9. The number of highly cited researchers in the world is about 10,000, and the competition to attract them is very high. This competition stems from the desire to build scientific and research capabilities, not from a desire for material gain. Consequently, KAU has made a serious effort to attract such researchers on a part-time basis, allowing them to visit the University periodically. When not on campus, they communicate regularly with the local scientists. This is emphasized in the Science magazine article through an account of the experience of a highly cited scientist, a Canadian astronomer. The astronomer hesitated to accept the invitation to work with KAU on part-time basis because he felt uncertain about the University’s commitment. He soon “became convinced that the university was sincere about tapping his expertise in doing research,” however, and he agreed to become a member of a university scientific group. He has submitted a proposal to KAU “to fund a telescope that he wants to build on an island in the Canadian Arctic.” If that proposal is accepted, there will be opportunities to involve KAU faculty members in the project.
10. KAU has established a specialized unit, namely the “Highly Cited Researchers Unit (HCRU)”, to attract highly cited scientists and to follow up their work. No contract is signed with any scholar before a visit to the campus and meetings with KAU senior officials and researchers, who exchange ideas with the scholar and consider the feasibility of putting the scholar under contract.
Mr. Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, the writer of the article, has drawn erroneous conclusions and passed judgment on the KAU scientific program for inviting highly cited and distinguished scientists to KAU. We appreciate his pointing out the benefits of the program and including in his article other positive remarks about this program made by the visiting professors Neil Robertson from Ohio State University, USA, Ray Carlberg from University of Toronto, Canada, and Surender Jain from Ohio University, USA.
We would also like to point out that KAU sees its highly cited researcher program as a strategic business investment on all levels. It is a well-considered and sound investment for the future of Saudi Arabia. The United States brought Albert Einstein to America with a hefty salary. In the 60s and 70s, that country brought many of the highest caliber scientists to its shores, and, even today, top scientists from around the globe are likely to receive offers from elite schools there. Whether it is Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Stanford, or other schools, all follow the same practice of bringing people from around the globe on a full-time or a part-time basis.
KAU started a similar program in its Mathematics Department in March 2010. Several top-level mathematicians visited and gave crash courses on hot topics of current research, collaborated on research papers and began writing two books – one for research scholars and another for Master level graduate students. This program was extended to all disciplines by involving the visiting Distinguished Professors more intensively in research projects.
As part of this declaration, KAU would like to emphasize its seriousness in and enthusiasm for developing scientific research at the University as a means of serving the needs of Saudi Arabia. We do not run behind rankings or false propaganda. KAU’s past history and present behavior is the best proof of that. We would like to invite all who are interested to contact the HCRU at KAU to come and meet with the scientists and their Saudi counterparts to verify our statements.
Prof. Adnan Bin Hamza Muhammad Zahed
KAU Vice President for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research
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The Science Magazine article on Saudi Universities: Dr. Mahdi Alosh Responds
Sat, 31 Dec, 2011
King Saud U. Arabic Language InstituteThe report published in the December 9, 2011 issue of Science Magazine on Saudi universities has been a catalyst for heated discussions in local Saudi Arabian circles with some groups supporting the programs designed to attract distinguished scholars with outstanding publishing track records, while other groups have found fault with the programs and believe that they have been mismanaged. It is not my intent here to enter the fray or take sides. A letter that I submitted to Science Magazine is intended to communicate my view of this issue to its readers and to whomever reads it from my own perspective—that of a person brought from the United States to share his expertise with the faculty members in the Arabic Language Institute at King Saud University.
For over twenty-two years, I served as professor at two prestigious institutions of higher education, namely, Ohio State University and the United States Military Academy at West Point. I was attracted to the latter by financial as well as academic incentives, very similar to the practice used by Saudi universities criticized by the article in question.
The obvious mishandling of the “recruiting” effort at King Abdulaziz University prompted the report. Many of us in academia would look with suspicion at unusual, unsolicited job offers, especially those coming from total strangers; thus, Professor Robert Kirshner’s negative reaction and comments may well be justified. Nevertheless, the article cast the entire recruiting system in a negative light and subjected it to unfriendly scrutiny. It’s common practice in American higher education to make attractive offers to secure the best professors and scientists, resulting in the not-so-insignificant number of faculty members migrating from institution to institution. Saudi universities, while relatively young, are in dire need of bolstering their ranks with distinguished scholars who are expected to contribute to the research effort coveted by most Saudi universities, in addition to teaching classes and serving as role models for other faculty members. It is in this manner Saudi faculty members become familiar with different standards of work and research ethics. Why would these same universities be criticized for using tried and true employment procedures to enhance their academic status and rankings with international organizations? While it is true that there may be aberrations in practice, the concept of attracting accomplished professors and scientists should be commended on its own merit.
It should be noted that universities and academic programs are ranked on the basis of a number of variables, most important of which are the faculty who populate them. To a great degree, it is the scholarly status of the faculty that causes a majority of programs to rise and fall along the ranking scale. It is a given that certain aspects of universities are permanent, i.e., labs and libraries; but professors come and go for various reasons. Saudi universities and those in charge of higher education may have made this realization and thus supported hiring programs designed to attract and maintain the employment of the best possible scholars. In fact, this controversy, brought to the fore by Science Magazine, is indicative of the success of this effort. Universities, like corporations, compete in their own fields, and the practices involved in their hiring practices are often fair game for criticism by opponents—local and foreign. Improving the manner in which the recruiting mechanism works is a given; therefore, the system of employment should move forward full speed for reasons outlined here.
Ideally, a combination of faculty (Saudi, Arab, international) should be highly engaged in implementing the mission not only of higher education, but pre-collegiate education as well. Without a doubt, faculty can play a positive role in forming a national educational policy aimed at developing new study and work ethics for future generations. All advanced countries and those with emerging economies (e.g., China, Korea, Malaysia, etc.) share a common denominator: study and work ethics. It must be stressed, underscored, and emphasized that these ethics do not occur in a vacuum or solely through theorizing. Upcoming generations must experience them first hand through interaction with role models in classrooms, laboratories, research groups, and elsewhere; hence the intrinsic value of the recruiting programs in Saudi universities.
Professor Mahdi Alosh
Head of TASOL Research Chair
Arabic Language Institute, King Saud University

Saudi academics demand response to paid citations allegations
By Khaled al-Shaei, Al Arabiya Riyadh, Sunday, 18 December 2011
Academicians at King Saud University in Riyadh and King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah called upon the two universities to issue a statement in response to claims by Science Magazine that the both pay money to researchers in return for international ranking.
According to several Saudi academicians, the report published this month in Science Magazine under the title “Saudi Universities Offer Cash in Exchange for Academic Prestige” ─ which accused both universities of paying researchers to cite their names as a second affiliation ─ is jeopardizing the reputation of two of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent institutions especially that the magazine is one of the most credible in the world.
In an attempt to solve the problem, Saudi Minister of Higher Education Khalid bin Mohamed al-Ankari held a meeting with officials from the universities of King Saud and King Abdul Aziz and asked them to issue an immediate statement in response to the report published in Science Magazine, sources told Al Arabiya.
The two universities have already denied allegations made by the magazine, said Rahman al-Salhabi, head of the Scientific Research Program ay King Abdul Aziz University Abdul.
“Officials at both universities admitted to ongoing cooperation with several foreign researchers but stressed that they are doing real work together and not just making them put the universities’ names on their research for money like what the magazine claimed,” he told Al Arabiya.
Salhabi added that it would be really shameful if what the magazine wrote turned out to be true.
“I find this quite unlikely, though.”
Salhabi pointed out that a university cannot focus on its international ranking without paying attention to the advancement of scientific research on its grounds.
“We should care about what the students do and what we offer them and how academic work in conducted inside the university. This is much more important than international ranking.”
For Yusuf al-Kuwaileet, editor-in-chief of al-Riyadh newspaper, the two universities have to respond to this “scandal.”
“This magazine is one of the most famous worldwide and that is why the universities have to issue a quick response,” he told Al Arabiya.
He added that what the magazine published is very serious and that it is totally unacceptable to use names of famous researchers to get higher rankings.
“A university cannot be founded on propaganda, but on what it really achieves. This is a scandal if it proves to be true, an international scandal and not just a local one.”
A large number of professors at both universities and officials at the Ministry of Higher Education refused to comment on the issue.
Professor of economics at King Saud University Mohamed al-Kanibt, who was the first to raise the issue in an article he wrote in al-Hayat newspaper, also declined to speak to Al Arabiya.
According to Kanibt, who was quoted in the Science Magazine report, King Saud University started the practice under the supervision of its president Abdullah al-Othman, who he called “the architect of international ranking jumps.” King Abdul Aziz University, he added, followed suit in order to reach higher ranking in a short time.
Till the writing of this report, neither of the two universities has issued an official statement confirming or denying the report. King Saud University only expressed its disappointment that the magazine based its report on one article by a Saudi writer without verifying the information it contained.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)
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Saudi universities shrug off row over scientists’ salaries
Marwan Almuraisy, SCIDevNet, 26 January 2012
Islam Analysis: Science reforms need to show results
[RIYADH] Saudi Arabia has given a major funding boost to its higher education sector, reviving a debate that erupted late last year about the country’s motives in recruiting high calibre international scientists to its leading universities.
The annual overall budget for education this year will be about US$44 billion, 13 per cent higher than last year’s allocation.
The country’s two leading universities, King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah and King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh, have received the largest slice of the pie, with a total allocation of US$3 billion between them.
Out of this total, KSU will receive US$2 billion and KAU US$1 billion. A breakdown of how this money will be distributed by the universities has not yet been published.
The funding decisions come on the heels of a debate started by an article in Science magazine last month accusing KAU and KSU of recruiting highly-cited researchers as members of their staff as a way of improving their international rankings.
The article claimed that, as a result of this tactic, the two universities have climbed several hundred places in international rankings in the past four years. They achieved this partly by being able to attach their names to the research publications of highly-cited researchers, regardless of whether the work involved any meaningful collaboration with the universities.
KSU is currently listed among the world’s top 300 universities, according to the 2011 edition of the widely-quoted Academic Ranking of World Universities. In 2008 it failed to make the top 500.
Similarly Webometrics, a directory that lists universities according to their Internet presence, ranked KSU 186th in 2011; in 2006 it was ranked 2,910th.
The Science article ignited a heated debate among Saudi academics, forcing both universities to issue statements clarifying the motives of their recruitment programmes.
“Attracting highly-cited researchers from various international universities and research centres is … an arrangement that is legitimate and exists in many top-notch universities,” said Adnan Bin Hamza Muhammad Zahed, KAU vice president for graduate studies and scientific research in KAU’s statement.
He added that it was “a well-considered and sound investment for the future of Saudi Arabia”.
Mohammed A. Alshaikh, the former dean of graduate studies at KSU, said in Al Hayat newspaper earlier this month that, having read the KAU’s response, he doubted whether the Science article would make a significant impact.
He added: “There are clear defects in the research programmes that cannot be accepted by any local or global university mindful of its reputation.”
And Mohamed Aref — science economics consultant at the Arab Science and Technology Foundation — said that, although a university like KSA is flourishing, “scientific research ethics have to be one of the most important values to the university”.
In an article in the newspaper Al Ittihad earlier this month (12 January), he called on the university not sacrifice its moral integrity for any reason.