The secretary general of the PSOE in Castilla y León, Luis Tudanca, has demanded this Wednesday that the rector of the University of Salamanca, Juan Manuel Corchado, give “explanations” regarding the accusations and criticisms of the scientific and university community about the network of “irregular practices” in his curriculum. Tudanca has also urged the Junta de Castilla y León, together with the head of the educational institution, to provide “transparency” in the face of the volume of criticism from the national and international academic community. A report prepared at the request of the Spanish Committee on Research Ethics has denounced the “systematic manipulation” of Corchado’s curriculum, who was appointed rector this year, also with controversy due to his maneuvers to access the position.
The socialist leader of the community has expressed himself through his account on social network Xformerly on Twitter: “National and international organisations have denounced irregular practices by the rector of the University of Salamanca. The damage to one of our most prestigious institutions is irreparable. The rector himself and the Board should act now and provide explanations with transparency,” Tudanca posted. The PSOE issued a statement at the beginning of the summer, when inappropriate details about Corchado’s conduct began to emerge, a statement where it demanded that the Junta (PP) intervene to “safeguard the good name of the University of Salamanca”. The party compiled several episodes of criticism from the Spanish scientific and university community, even from within the Salamanca entity, such as the letter presented by more than 150 teachers asking the body to urge the Junta to open “as the responsible administration of the university system of the autonomous community, as a matter of urgency, a verification procedure with the pertinent legal guarantees of transparency and impartiality”.
National and international organizations denounce irregular practices by the rector of the University of Salamanca. The damage to one of our most prestigious institutions is irreparable. The rector himself and the Board should act now and provide explanations with transparency. pic.twitter.com/LJqJB2WLiN
— Luis Tudanca (@luistudanca) September 25, 2024
The professors argued for this measure because “the suspicion regarding the aforementioned scientific practices cannot be extended to the entire institution with the prestige and history of the University of Salamanca.” EL PAÍS has reported since March —two months before Corchado stood alone and won the elections for rector after the surprise resignation of his predecessor— that this artificial intelligence specialist had falsified his scientific impact with thousands of self-citations and other irregular practices.
This same Monday a report The 131-page report requested by the Spanish Committee on Research Ethics highlighted the “deliberate” and “systematic” manipulation of the University of Salamanca rector’s CV. The study was carried out by Emilio Delgado and Alberto Martín, two of Spain’s leading experts in bibliometrics, the discipline that analyses a person’s scientific activity. According to the report, Corchado and his followers plotted “a factory of publications and citations” based on “strategies based on questionable publishing behaviour and bad editorial practices, if not openly fraudulent practices”.
The months of controversy surrounding Corchado have not provoked the intervention of the Junta, headed by the also charro and former mayor of Salamanca Alfonso Fernández Mañueco. The regional president attended the appointment of Corchado as rector and blessed him during his ratification ceremony: “I congratulate you for having obtained the support of the university community at the polls, because it is the polls that have given you the possibility of being appointed as rector.”
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