Abu Dhabi: University professors from eight Saudi universities have assumed the responsibilities of the editor-in-chief, the editorial board, and the advisory board for four scientific journals published in Gaza, an investigation has revealed.
Saudi media reported Dr. Muwaffaq Al Ruwaili, a former member of the Saudi Shura Council, launched ‘Halkouni’ campaign, Arabic for ‘exhausted and wired with angry energy’, to uncover holders of fake certificates.
Dr. Al Ruwaili said on Twitter Saudi universities need to acquire these journals if they are not used by faculty members to obtain academic promotions.
He added senior faculty members are working without fulfilling criteria set by the Higher Education Commission for inductions and promotions of the respective positions. The faculty are working for the journals that publish their research, required for promotion, Dr. Al Ruwaili said.
Followers of the issue, which began as a campaign to expose promotions based on a fake electronic publication, doubted that the journals are used as a publishing tool to obtain scientific promotions in the universities in which they work.
The journals say on their websites they are published in Gaza with a number of their board members taking membership of other journals and several Saudi professors are either editors, assume editorial board or advisory board positions in more than one journal.
One of the journals says it is issued to support researchers and science students and publishes research for free, as it publishes the slogan of the Saudi Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
Another journal boasts being a pioneer in scientific publishing in the Arab world, supporting and adopting the Kingdom’s vision for Education 2030. It says it seeks to implement that vision in scientific research in all educational, psychological, humanistic, literary, medical, natural, and engineering disciplines.
It describes itself as one of the best peer-reviewed scientific journals published in Arabic and English.
According to Al Ruwaili, the journals are: Economic, Administrative and Legal Sciences Journal, Journal of Natural, Life and Applied Sciences, and Journal of Engineering Sciences, Information Technology and the Journal of Risk and Crisis Management.
