Following is the list of editors of journals, books or book series who may have been involved in scientific misconduct:
Jiří Jaromír Klemeš
Jiří Jaromír Klemeš (1945–2023) was a prominent academic at the Brno University of Technology, widely recognized for his work in process integration and sustainable development. However, his posthumous legacy has become a focal point for large-scale academic integrity investigations. He was co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cleaner Production.
• Posthumous Publishing Scandal: Following his death in January 2023, at least 49 papers were published listing him as a co-author. Many were submitted months after his passing with false declarations that he had approved the final manuscripts, suggesting his name was used as a “brand” by a network to guarantee acceptance.
• Editorial Misconduct: He was a central figure in the “editorial capture” of the Journal of Cleaner Production (JCP). Evidence, including errata, confirmed cases where he acted as both a co-author and the handling editor for the same manuscript, creating a blatant conflict of interest.
• Senior Network Hub: Alongside Muhammad Shahbaz and Charbel Jabbour, Klemeš was a senior leader of a major “citation ring.” This network used his prestige and editorial power to fast-track papers and systematically cross-cite each other to inflate bibliometric metrics.
• PRES Conference Pipeline: He founded the PRES conference series, which served as a primary pipeline for fast-tracking papers into high-impact journals, often bypassing rigorous independent peer review.
• Citation Stacking: Many of his most-cited works have been flagged for “citation stacking,” where large blocks of irrelevant references were added to papers solely to boost the h-indices of the network members.
• Ongoing Scrutiny: His posthumous publications and joint works are currently subject to widespread “Expressions of Concern” and retractions as journals attempt to correct the record of his late-career output.
Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour
Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour is a prominent scholar in Green Human Resource Management and Sustainable Supply Chain Management, currently a Distinguished Professor at NEOMA Business School. Despite his high bibliometric standing, he is frequently identified as a senior member of the collaborative network involving Muhammad Shahbaz and Jiří Jaromír Klemeš.
• Current HCR Status: Unlike his frequent collaborator Shahbaz, Jabbour remains on the Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list as of 2025/2026, though his work remains a primary subject of investigation for bibliometric manipulation.
• Senior Network Role: He acts as a key bridge between management theory and the technical sustainability research favored by the “ring,” helping to expand the network’s influence into European and Brazilian academic institutions.
• Citation Padding Allegations: Numerous publications co-authored by Jabbour have been flagged on PubPeer for containing “citation stacks”—blocks of references that appear disconnected from the text and serve primarily to inflate the metrics of his associates.
• Editorial Influence: He has held influential editorial and guest editorial positions in “hub” journals like the Journal of Cleaner Production, which investigators suggest allowed for the fast-tracking of papers within the network.
• Collaboration Scrutiny: His extensive joint work with Jiří Jaromír Klemeš has come under review following the exposure of the latter’s posthumous publishing and self-handling of manuscripts to determine the extent of bypassed peer-review protocols.
• Template-Driven Prolificity: Like other members of the group, Jabbour’s massive output is often characterized by “template” research, where similar management models are applied to different developing regions to maintain an extreme rate of publication.
• Co-authors: He has co-edited a book (Sustainable Production and Consumption Systems) with the disgraced author Syed Abdul Rehman Khan, whose several papers and one book (Strategic Supply Chain Management) has been retracted by the publishers. The book has been published in the Springer Book Series whose editor is S. A. R. Khan as of Feb 2026.
Muhammad Shahbaz
Muhammad Shahbaz is a highly prolific researcher in the fields of Energy Economics, Environmental Science, and Applied Econometrics. He has held various academic positions, most recently at the Beijing Institute of Technology, and was once ranked among the top 1% of the world’s most-cited researchers.
• Exclusion from Clarivate HCR: Formerly a staple on the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list, Shahbaz was famously removed in recent years. Clarivate’s qualitative filters identified “anomalous citation patterns,” indicating that his high citation count was likely the result of manipulation rather than genuine impact.
• Citation Rings and Stacking: Investigations on platforms like PubPeer have mapped out a “citation ring” where Shahbaz, alongside collaborators like Jiří Jaromír Klemeš and Charbel Jabbour, systematically cited each other’s work to artificially inflate their h-indices and the Impact Factors of specific journals.
• Hyper-Prolificity and Paper Mills: Shahbaz has published at a rate (often dozens of papers per year) that academic watchdogs consider statistically impossible for original, high-quality research. This has led to allegations of involvement in “paper mills” or “ghost-writing” businesses, where research is mass-produced using repetitive templates.
• Journal Suppression: His excessive publishing and citation practices were central to the “Resources Policy” scandal, where the journal was suppressed by Clarivate for anomalous citation patterns linked directly to his network.
• Editorial Capture: He utilized editorial and guest editorial roles to fast-track submissions from his network, often bypassing rigorous peer review in journals like Environmental Science and Pollution Research (ESPR) and Journal of Cleaner Production.
While he remains an active author, his work is now a primary case study for academic integrity investigators tracking the rise of citation-based misconduct in global academia.
Syed Abdul Rehman Khan
Syed Abdul Rehman Khan is a prolific researcher in supply chain and environmental management who has faced significant academic integrity challenges, particularly regarding high-volume retractions and conflicts of interest. He is the editor of the Springer Book Series on Industrial Ecology.
• Massive Publication Retractions: He has had numerous research papers retracted from various international journals due to issues ranging from compromised peer review to data irregularities and citation manipulation.
• Retracted Book: His book, Strategic Supply Chain Management, was notably retracted, which is a rare and severe occurrence in academic publishing.
• Editorial Conflicts of Interest: He co-edited the book Sustainable Production and Consumption Systems with Charbel Jabbour; significantly, this book was published in a series where Khan himself served as the series editor, raising serious questions about the independence and rigor of the editorial process.
• Network Connectivity: He is identified as a key collaborator within the network involving Muhammad Shahbaz and Charbel Jabbour, frequently appearing on papers that have been flagged for “citation stacking.”
• Hyper-Prolificity: Like other members of this group, his extremely high rate of publication has led to scrutiny regarding “gift authorship” and the potential use of paper-mill services.
• Current Status: Despite his extensive record of retractions, he remains active in the field, though he has been a primary target of investigation for academic integrity watchdogs and bibliometric analysts.
• Paper Mill disguised as ‘Consultancy’: He is the Director of BUSINESS RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY LTD. It is widely believed that the company is a paper mill that not only provides manuscripts but also ensures they are published in Web of Science-indexed journals.