Elsevier Fires Third Editor in Citation Cartel Crackdown; Hundreds of Papers Face Potential Retraction

Summary

Elsevier has fired a third editor-in-chief at Research in International Business and Finance (RIBAF) as part of a crackdown on citation cartels—schemes where editors collude to inflate citation counts through quid-pro-quo arrangements. The previous editor, John Goodell, was removed despite having a term until 2027. This follows the firing of two other editors at the same journal. The scandal has put hundreds of papers at risk of retraction, highlighting systemic issues in academic publishing where profit motives and citation manipulation undermine research integrity.