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UNR Dean of Engineering’s questionable research papers arise By Jaedyn Young and Emerson Drewes Dozens of academic research papers from Erick Jones, dean of the College of Engineering, have circulated online that are “so bad, you can’t believe it.” This comes after a blog post was published by Andrew Gelman, a statistics and political science professor at Columbia University, who commented on the “empty jargon” present in the studies. The main paper in question by Gelman is titled “Using Science to Minimize Sleep Deprivation that may reduce Train Accidents,” listing Jones as one of the four authors and was published in the International Supply Chain Technology Journal in 2022. Many red flags were raised by Gelman and subsequently the academic community on X, formerly known as Twitter: the paper consisted of only one page, two paragraphs and no citations and the peer review process took only 15 days. Jones was hired as dean of the College of Engineering in 2022 and previously served as the senior science advisor in the Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. State Department and was a former professor and the associate dean for Graduate Studies at the College of Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington. Upon the publication of Gelman’s article, many took to X to further investigate the claims, calling Jones an “academic fraud”. Internet sleuths pointed out ISCTJ has two websites, both of which have Erick Jones on the editorial board, but in different capacities: one lists him as Editor-in-Chief, while the other simply lists him as a board member. In a response to The Nevada Sagebrush, Gelman stated he denies Jones is a fraud or is involved in anything fraudulent, he is just “baffled” at the situation. “I have no idea what is going on. This is one of the most bizarre academic stories I’ve ever hear[d],” said Gelman in a response to the Sagebrush. “Just to be clear, I’m not saying there is any fraud here.” Gelman is unaware of what requirements a dean’s position at the University of Nevada, Reno or the College of Engineering’s research qualifications are, if any. “What disturbed me is that some of his papers are so bad that it’s incomprehensible to me how they could be associated with a dean of engineering at a flagship state university, or a dean of engineering anywhere,” Gelman told The Sagebrush. “I was not saying that Dr. Jones’s research has not been sufficient for his job.” Additionally, the majority of Jones’s publications per his Google Scholar have been through ISCTJ and the content raises the same alarms as the original article in question: little substance in the paper and a short turnaround time. Even further investigation pointed out Jones publishing almost identical articles in two separate issues of ISCTJ with the same authors, but separate review and publication dates. Allegations of plagiarism have also surfaced, one X user saying Jones “took an existing published paper, added his name to it, and proceeded to republish the exact same article 3 more times.” In another example, a commenter on the blog post cited an article titled “Working Towards Sustainable Net Neutral Critical Mineral Supply Chains” with seven sentences that was authored by five people, including Jones. “What’s amazing is that any of the five listed authors of this paper must have had the ability to write something at least half coherent on the topic … But they couldn’t even be bothered to do that, ” Gelman commented in reply to this user. “The whole thing is

VOLUME 130, ISSUE 4

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Students, faculty petition for Dean Jones’ resignation By Jaedyn Young and Emerson Drewes An engineering student at the University of Nevada, Reno has started a petition urging Erick Jones, dean of the College of Engineering, to resign from his current position after research articles of his have arisen with questionable content. This comes after a blog post was published by Andrew Gelman, a statistics and political science professor at Columbia University, who commented on the “empty jargon” present in the studies. Following the article, students and internet sleuths have dug up more articles with dubious content. Some found articles consisting of only seven sentences, multiple duplicates of

Zoe Malen / Nevada Sagebrush

just so damn weird.” Jones replied to the allegations in the comment section of Gelman’s blog post claiming Gelman’s assessment of the work was “unjust”; he said he “gave up” being editor of the journal a “few years back,” but is still the initial founder and editor of the publication, as well as an investor. “The journal is peer reviewed and it was designed initially for more American supply chain practitioners, researchers and undergraduate students in applied application labs to publish with faculty, from internships and class papers on applied engineering activities that are related to supply chain technologies,” said Jones. Furthermore, Jones admonished Gelman for his “crucifixion” and “hatchet job”, stating he does not use the work published in ISCTJ on his resume and has several textbooks and articles “more accepted” in the field. Gelman further stood his ground in a comment back to Jones, his criticism directed towards UNR administration and not UNR faculty, or the university as a whole. “It is a criticism of some aspect of the UNR administration in which the dean of engineering is running a journal that is publishing junk papers by himself and others,” said Gelman in his response. “If I were a student I would not be happy that this is where my tuition is going.” Jones responded to The Sagebrush with a revised version of his original comment he posted in response to the blog. UNR officials were reached out to for comment, but The Sagebrush did not receive an immediate response. This is a developing story please check back for updates. Emerson Drewes and Jaedyn Young can be reached via email at edrewes@sagebrush.unr.edu or jaedynyoung@sagebrush.unr.edu or on X @ NevadaSagebrush. Erick Jones on February 7, 2024 5:35 PM at 5:35 pm said:

Impact Nevada seeks to bring inclusivity, unity, powerful leadership

Hi this is Erick Jones, typically I don’t reply to these type of hatchet jobs but I do respect honest criticism. I gave up being the editor of the journal a few years back but I was the founder and initial editor of the journal. The journal loses money so I am still an investor in the company that owns it. The journal is peer reviewed and it was designed initially for more American supply chain practitioners, researchers and undergraduate students in applied application labs to publish with faculty, from internships and class papers on applied engineering activities that are related to supply chain technologies. I believed that publication in top journal took to long review and get published and that many in the field were not able to publish applied papers in this field in a timely fashion. Generally, I don’t count these on my resume. I starred the journal after I was twice tenured and a full professor. I wanted to make sure this was seen as a ploy for tenure. Please note I have several textbooks and many articles from other journals that are higher indexed and quite frankly more accepted in the field. Personally when I started I did not expect to be an administrator just a faculty member who tried to make a difference and provide access to more applied supply chain engineering technology ideas, projects and research. As far as the criticisms of the many contributors, editorial board and current activities of the journal I feel you are being unfair. As far as some topics especially the one you are highlighting that was worked on by US students that a new thought backed by something believed to be novel and clearly states further investi-

articles published in different volumes and very short peer review processes for all articles. “The students of the University of Nevada are intelligent and hardworking; they rightly expect competence and honesty from the people overseeing their studies,” says the petition. “It is clear on the basis of the work to which he willingly puts his name that Dean Jones lacks either the competence or the honesty to execute his office as well as [the University of Nevada, Reno] deserves.” The petition not only calls for his resignation, but also for UNR to conduct a review of their hiring processes to “ensure that senior faculty are held to at least the same standards of academic integrity as are undergraduate students.” Joseph Dailey, an engineering graduate student at UNR and former undergraduate at the university, started the petition after seeing coverage of the recent controversy and out of concern for the legitimacy of his degree. “It’s regrettable that we’re in this position to begin with, but it represents an opportunity,” Dailey said. “Evidently there are blind spots in academic politics, in the peer review process and in UNR’s implementation of administrative policy. The best time to start addressing these would have been years ago; the second-best time is now.” Currently, 196 people have signed the petition, including students and faculty members within the engineering department; The Nevada Sagebrush has confirmed the legitimacy of these claims. Hiring the new engineering dean During the university’s search, there were five finalists that were presented to multiple open forums during the hiring process:

Continued online at thenevadasagebrush.com

Emerson Drewes and Jaedyn Young can be reached via email at edrewes@ sagebrush.unr.edu or jaedynyoung@ s a g e b r u s h . u n r. e d u o r o n X @ NevadaSagebrush.

Dawson Deal and Liesel Kemmelmeier pose on the south end of the Quad. The two are running under the campaign name Impact Nevada during the ASUN 2024 election season.

YOURNevada seeks to increase campus safety, advocacy, breaking the status quo

By Jaedyn Young

By Nick Stewart

Election season for the Associated Students of the University of Nevada, Reno has returned for 2024. This year, two presidential and vice presidential candidate teams are running — Fayza Salah and Isabella Valdivieso, and Dawson Deal and Liesel Kemmelmeier. Primary presidential debates will take place on March 5 at 7 p.m. in the Joe Crowley Student Union Theater and general election debates will take place on March 12, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The general election will occur from March 12 to 13. Read about Dawson Deal and Liesel Kemmelmeier’s campaign below: Continued on page A2

The students are intelligent and hardworking; they rightly expect competence and honesty from the people overseeing their studies.

Zoe Malen / Nevada Sagebrush Fayza Salah and Isabella Valdivieso hold up the Wolf Pack sign in front of the Mackay Mines building. Sarah and Valdivieso are running under the campaign name YOURNevada. Zoe Malen / Nevada Sagebrush

Election season for the Associated Students of the University of Nevada, Reno has returned for 2024. This year, two presidential and vice presidential candidate teams are running — Fayza Salah and Isabella Valdivieso, and Dawson Deal and Liesel Kemmelmeier. Primary presidential debates will take place on March 5 at 7 p.m. in the Joe Crowley Student Union Theater and general election debates will take place on March 12, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The general election will occur from March 12 to 13. Read more about Fayza Salah and Isabella ValdivieContinued on page A2