Prolific Spanish Chemist Sacked For Links With Saudi Arabia, Russia

The University of Córdoba has suspended a highly-cited chemist for 13 years after finding that he had claimed to be affiliated with a Russian and a Saudi Arabian university despite having a full-time contract with Córdoba, Dalmeet Singh Chawla reported for Chemistry & Engineering News (C&EN).

Photo Insert: Luque says he has been treated unfairly.

Rafael Luque, who has been on analytic company Clarivate’s list of most highly cited researchers for the last five years, was suspended for noting in his published papers that he is affiliated with King Saud University and Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

In 2011, Science magazine revealed that Saudi universities were paying researchers more than $70,000 annually for adjunct professorships.

Luque, who has published around 700 research papers so far, studies green chemistry. According to his LinkedIn page, he previously worked at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of York in England.

In a statement to C&EN, Luque says he has been treated unfairly.

“I would like to openly request the University of Córdoba, for the sake of transparency, to make public the full details,” he says, “in order to facilitate a public understanding of the charges and continue the discussion along these lines.”

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