Suspension of Four Faculty Members at Azad University on Charges of 'Scientific Fraud'

The Vice President for Research and Technology at Azad University has announced the suspension of four faculty members and the expulsion of several students from the university on charges of 'scientific fraud.' Ebrahim Vashaghani Farahani stated on Saturday, January 8, that these individuals were suspended and expelled in connection with 'fraud and scientific theft' involving a group of Iranian researchers in the journal 'Nature.' Vashaghani Farahani added that Azad University has the 'least number' of articles removed by this journal, and the four faculty members whose names appeared in the articles have also been suspended. He mentioned the expulsion of five to six members of the 'Young Researchers Club' at the university and noted that a ruling of three years of academic suspension has been issued for another student. The Vice President for Research and Technology also stated that 'these students used the name of Azad University without permission and harmed the university's reputation, leading to their referral to the legal office.' The journal Nature reported in early November that 58 articles authored by 282 researchers residing in Iran had been retracted by one of the most reputable scientific publishers. 'Springer Nature,' the publisher of one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals, Nature, issued a statement indicating that 'evidence of fraud and scientific theft' was found in the articles of Iranian researchers. Nature noted that in all the articles that Springer Nature retracted, there were signs of manipulation in the identification of the main author and in the peer review process. Amy Brook White, a spokesperson for the journal 'BioMed,' also stated that in 57% of the articles identified by this journal, there was evidence of manipulation in the peer review process, and 93% of them showed signs of scientific theft. In this context, Vahid Ahmadi, the Vice President for Research at the Ministry of Science, announced in December that the ministry would decisively deal with 'scientific offenders' whose names were associated with the journal Nature. Previously, Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi, the Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, had assessed the journal's report on 'scientific theft' by some faculty members at universities in Iran as 'completely accurate.' Qazizadeh Hashemi stated that, in connection with the journal's report, cases have been opened against 19 faculty members in the country. The buying and selling of theses and scientific articles in Iran has become a common trade, especially in recent years, and advertisements for their sale can be seen in public places near universities, such as Revolution Street in Tehran. Currently, a significant number of companies involved in the sale of theses and scientific articles in Iran have launched various internet websites and are openly active in this field. So far, no accurate statistics have been published regarding the volume of thesis buying and selling in Iran, and it is unclear how much revenue this 'scientific trade' generates annually. However, individuals such as Mohammad Reza Makbar Dezfouli, Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, have stated that 'thesis selling' in Iran is an 'organized flow' and 'designed with the support of foreigners and problematic elements.' Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of Iran, also criticized in October of this year that 'someone is invited to the country as a scientist, and he discredits the country's elite youth by publishing a photo of a thesis sale sign in Iran.'