Google Scholar is manipulatable

Researchers Hazem Ibrahim, Fengyuan Liu, Yasir Zaki and Talal Rahwan argue that citations can be bought, so citation counts should not be relied on alone when evaluating scientists. They compiled a dataset of about 1.6 million Google Scholar profiles and surveyed faculty at highly ranked universities, who confirmed that Google Scholar is widely used in evaluating scientists. While posing as a fictional author, the team contacted a citation-boosting service they had uncovered and purchased 50 citations.