Russian universities are hiring Egyptian researchers to artificially inflate publication statistics, T-Invariant reports

Russian higher education establishments are partnering with Egyptian researchers in order to artificially boost their tally of academic publications. According to an investigation by T-Invariant, Russian universities formally enroll researchers from Egypt in postgraduate courses; the researchers then return home but continue to list the Russian university as their affiliation when publishing in international journals. This allows Russian universities to generate a higher number of scientific publications, which are then reported to the country’s Ministry of Education and Science in an effort to receive increased state funding. The scheme spans major institutions across Russia, from Ural Federal University and universities in Khanty-Mansiysk all the way to Moscow's MIPT.

The review found widespread manipulation of experimental data in papers by Egyptian authors. One of the most prolific researchers, Hesham M. H. Zakaly, has accumulated 35 critical reviews on PubPeer, mostly over suspected fabrication of graphs and spectra. In one article that was later retracted, five spectra from different samples turned out to be identical — something that is physically impossible. This, the report notes, indicates peer review manipulation without any substantiated explanation.

The practice shows signs of a commercial scheme: researchers trained at Russian universities later list their employers when publishing in top international journals, often alongside random co-authors from third countries. Such academic papers allow universities to obtain “tokens”— instances of citation in prestigious journals — which are then reported to the supervising ministry. The “value” of these tokens does not depend on the content of the work, but solely on the journal’s standing.

According to the investigation, one early-career Egyptian researcher, Marwa A. El-Sayed, has already obtained an affiliation with MIPT, a prestigious engineering university near Moscow, indicating that the practice is spreading to Russia's leading research centers. The author of the investigation expresses concern that, without intervention, the practice will continue.

Previously, the outlet reported that Russian scientists with significant academic achievements have begun enlisting the help of foreign co-authors from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, whose names appear on a large number of low-quality papers.