Last July, Retraction Watch reported that Masoud Afrand, a former member of the editorial board of Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements, had been linked to paper mill activity. At the time, Alexander Cheng, the journal’s editor in chief said Afrand had been asked to step down due to “unethical publication conduct.”
The 73 notices state that the “editors are investigating the article, including contacting the authors, in line with Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and Elsevier’s policies. The Expression of Concern will remain appended to the article until the investigation has been completed.”
Although the articles involve many different authors, three researchers appear repeatedly. Mohammad S. Sajadi, a professor of nutrition at Cihan University in Erbil, Iraq, is an author on 24 papers published in the journal – 16 of which are now marked with expressions of concern and one of which has been retracted. According to Clarivate’s Web of Science, Sajadi’s work has garnered more than 10,000 citations.
Quynh Hoang Le, of Duy Tan University in Da Nang, Vietnam, has published 11 papers in the journal, of which two have been retracted and nine are flagged with an expression of concern. Mohammed A. Albedah, an assistant professor of material science at Majmaah University in Al Majma’ah, Saudi Arabia, published three papers, all of which are now marked with expressions of concern.
None of the authors have responded to request of Retraction Watch for comment. Elsevier is “conducting a full investigation and cannot comment any further until the investigations are complete,” a company spokesperson said.
