Update: Mohamed El Naschie, a former editor of the scientific journal Chaos, Solitons and Fractals, appeared in London鈥檚 High Court today for the libel lawsuit he has brought against the scientific journal Nature.
El Naschie is representing himself.
During El Naschie鈥檚 cross-examination of journalist , who wrote the 2008 article about him, Schiermeier stood by the content of the work, saying, 鈥淲e wrote the article because you published 58 papers in one year in a journal where you acted as editor-in-chief. That is unusual and potentially unethical.鈥�
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El Naschie responded that he felt it wasn鈥檛 unheard of for journals to publish work that isn鈥檛 peer-reviewed. He also said that his work had been stolen. 鈥淲e published my work to secure it,鈥� he told the court. 鈥淪enior people are above this childish, vain practice of peer review.鈥�
The case continues.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
Original article, posted 15 November 2011
A libel case brought against the scientific journal Nature by an independent physicist is hearing statements from defence witnesses this week in London. , a former editor of the physics journal , is claiming that an article published in Nature in November 2008 damaged his reputation. The article is .
The article questioned the peer-review process at Chaos, Solitons and Fractals, where El Naschie served as editor and published many of his own papers. Peer review is at the heart of science publishing: research papers submitted to journals are assessed by scientists who are experts in the relevant field.
The Nature article also reported that several of El Naschie鈥檚 claims of affiliation with academic institutions could not be verified.
The trial started in London鈥檚 High Court on Friday, although El Naschie, who is representing himself, has not been present during the proceedings.
Frustrating process
, a materials scientist at the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK, testified yesterday that when El Naschie was editor, the peer-review process at Chaos, Solitons and Fractals was 鈥渇rustrating鈥� and unlike that of other journals.
With regard to the dispute over El Naschie鈥檚 affiliations, Timothy John Pedley, former head of the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, said that El Naschie was a visiting scholar with access to libraries and collaborations at the department, but was not an honorary scholar working with the privileges of a professor.
Nature will continue to make its case until next Monday, calling the author of the piece and editors who worked on the article to testify this week. Should El Naschie appear in court, the proceedings will continue another week. A judgment is expected early next year.
At the time of posting, El Naschie has not responded to New 杏吧原创鈥榮 emails asking for comment.