# Google Scholar is manipulatable

Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.04607
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Google-Scholar-is-manipulatable?index=0x65c5f7aae87c6752ab735db5742f12b8f99a5022ea0a51344d3805a076dade1c5c152707
Submitted by misha on 2024-02-09 UTC, 2 upvotes, 0 comments

## Summary

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.

## Article

Google Scholar is manipulatable

Authors: Hazem Ibrahim, Fengyuan Liu, Yasir Zaki, Talal Rahwan

Citations are widely considered in scientists' evaluation. As such, scientists may be incentivized to inflate their citation counts. While previous literature has examined self-citations and citation cartels, it remains unclear whether scientists can purchase citations. Here, we compile a dataset of ~1.6 million profiles on Google Scholar to examine instances of citation fraud on the platform. We survey faculty at highly-ranked universities, and confirm that Google Scholar is widely used when evaluating scientists. Intrigued by a citation-boosting service that we unravelled during our investigation, we contacted the service while undercover as a fictional author, and managed to purchase 50 citations. These findings provide conclusive evidence that citations can be bought in bulk, and highlight the need to look beyond citation counts.