Abdelghani MADDI
Ingénieur(e) de recherche
Research Engineer · GEMASS · CNRS & Sorbonne University
Research axis: Sciences, Croyances et Cognition
Economics of Knowledge, Sociology of Science, Open Science, Research Integrity & Research Evaluation
My research lies at the intersection of scientometrics, the economics of knowledge and the sociology of science.
I study how publishing models, research infrastructures, databases, indicators and digital platforms shape the production, evaluation and circulation of scientific knowledge.
Areas of interest include scholarly communication, bibliometric databases, research integrity, publishing markets, peer review and the social uses of scientific indicators.
Research
Research Profile
My work examines the transformations of scholarly communication and research evaluation in the digital era. I am particularly interested in the effects of open access on knowledge production and dissemination, the economics and governance of academic publishing, the reliability and uses of bibliometric databases, and the institutional conditions under which scientific integrity is maintained or challenged.
Methodologically, I combine large-scale quantitative analysis, bibliometrics, computational social science, network analysis, text analysis and interactive data visualization. My research seeks both to develop robust empirical tools and to understand the social, political and economic arrangements embedded in research data and indicators.
Areas of expertise
Scientific & Technical Expertise
Indicators, citation analysis, normalization, mapping, coverage and data-quality assessment.
Open-access models, infrastructures, publishing practices, discoverability and the social organization of knowledge circulation.
Evaluation frameworks, responsible metrics, institutional monitoring and disciplinary comparisons.
Retractions, post-publication peer review, authorship, publication practices and metric manipulation.
Publishing markets, governance, inequalities, incentives and organizational transformations.
Large-scale data pipelines, reproducible workflows, databases, dashboards and scientific visualization.
Methods & tools: R/RStudio, SQL, Python, XML/XSL, LaTeX, bibliometric databases, network analysis, text analysis, statistical modelling, interactive dashboards and reproducible research workflows.
Research leadership
Current Research Projects
OPENIT
Principal Investigator · ANR · 2024–2027 · €251,000
Analysis of the scholarly publishing market during the transition to open access, with particular attention to business models, infrastructures, governance, power relations and the restructuring of the publishing ecosystem.
ECOS
Principal Investigator · URFIST · 2025–2027 · €25,000
A project on the economic and organizational mechanisms shaping scholarly publishing in the era of open science. It develops accessible, interactive and visually engaging resources for informed debate.
OSYR
WP2 Co-leader · ANR · 2025–2028 · €256,000
Quantitative analysis of the effects of open-science training on the practices and trajectories of early-career researchers.
ROR²
Contributor · 2024–2027 · €254,000
Development of a taxonomy and observatory documenting the diversity, governance and economic models of academic digital platforms.
Skeptiscience
Contributor · ANR · €273,000
Research on scientific integrity and the ethical challenges associated with contemporary research and publishing practices.
Selected outputs
Selected Publications
Open science, open innovation? The role of open access in patenting activity.
Maddi, A., Abdin, A. Y. & De Pretis, F. · Scientometrics, 2026 · DOI
Geographical and disciplinary coverage of open access journals: OpenAlex, Scopus and Web of Science.
Maddi, A., Maisonobe, M. & Boukacem-Zeghmouri, C. · PLOS ONE, 2025 · DOI
The Retraction Gender Gap: Are Mixed Teams More Vulnerable?
Maddi, A. et al. · Quantitative Science Studies, 2025 · DOI
Streetlight effect in PubPeer comments: Are Open Access publications more scrutinized?
Maddi, A. et al. · Scientometrics, 2024 · DOI
On the peer review reports: Does size matter?
Maddi, A. & Miotti, L. · Scientometrics, 2024 · DOI
On the culture of open access: The Sci-Hub paradox.
Maddi, A. & Sapinho, D. · Scientometrics, 2023 · DOI
Measuring open access publications: A novel normalized open access indicator.
Maddi, A. · Scientometrics, 2020 · DOI
Research communication:
The Open Science Landscape Is Increasingly Difficult to Grasp. That’s a Problem. (Katina Magazine, 2026);
The best peer review reports are at least 947 words (LSE Impact Blog, 2024);
Sci-Hub presents a paradox for open access publishing (LSE Impact Blog, 2023).
The complete list of journal articles, books, chapters, reports and conference contributions is available in my
full CV and on
ORCID.
Scientific outreach
Invited Talks & Featured Lectures
2026 · “Quelle évaluation de la production scientifique médicale ?”
États Généraux de la Médecine Intensive–Réanimation, Bordeaux.
2026 · “Jouer avec les métriques : l’art de la manipulation académique”
Université de Lorraine · Watch on Canal-U.
2025 · “Peer review at a crossroads: changing the rules or the game?”
Peer Review Week, Clarivate Analytics.
2024 · “Scientometrics in the age of open data: tools, methods and challenges”
Metascience, Research on Research and Open Science Seminar, Lyon.
2023 · “Bibliometrics: beyond numbers, science through data”
Centre Émile Durkheim Methods Workshop, Bordeaux.
Academic service
Academic & Institutional Responsibilities
Academic governance
- Member of the Academic Advisory Board, Global Research Initiative on Open Science (GRIOS), since 2026.
- Treasurer, European Network for Research Evaluation in the Social Sciences and Humanities (ENRESSH), since 2025.
CNRS & GEMASS responsibilities
- Scientific and Technical Information Correspondent, CNRS Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (InSHS).
- Open Science Officer, GEMASS.
- Information Systems Security Correspondent (CSSI), CNRS.
Editorial & scientific service
- Editorial Board member, Knowledge Organization.
- Editorial Board member, The Journal of Economics & Management.
- Scientific and organizing committee member, RESSH 2026.
- Scientific committee member, STI-ENID 2026.
Recruitment & evaluation
- Chair of a CNRS national Research Engineer recruitment jury.
- Expert member of CNRS national Research Engineer recruitment juries.
- PhD examiner and member of thesis committees.
Editorial expertise
Peer-Review Activities
I regularly review manuscripts across scientometrics, information science, research policy, open science, research integrity, economics and the social sciences.
Scientometrics · Research Policy · Scientific Reports · Royal Society Open Science ·
Journal of Information Science · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · Field Methods ·
Research Integrity and Peer Review · Quantitative Science Studies ·
The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science · PLOS ONE · F1000Research ·
Publishing Research Quarterly · Social Epistemology · Journal of Librarianship & Information Science ·
Information Research, among others.
Research training
Doctoral Supervision & Thesis Committees
Xiaoting Chen · Renmin University of China
Productivity, Impact and Collaboration in Open-Access Projects: The Case of an NSFC Project.
Chongjun Xi · Chinese Academy of Sciences
Constructing a Generalized Technology–Effect Framework: An Approach to Integrating Multi-Source Data.
Yutong Fei · Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
PhD examiner, thesis defended on 10 June 2026: Study and Classification of Citation Contexts for the Development of Relational and Semantic Indicators.
Teaching
Teaching Experience
Current teaching at Sorbonne University
- Introduction to Economics — BA Sociology.
- Sociology of Science — BA Sociology.
- Introduction to Survey Analysis with R and RStudio — MA Sociology.
Previous teaching at Université Paris Cité and Université Sorbonne Paris Nord includes probability, database management, labour economics, microeconomics, political economy, monetary economics, international monetary systems and introductory economics.
Career
Professional & Academic Background
Since 2023 · Research Engineer
GEMASS — CNRS & Sorbonne University.
2016–2022 · Data Scientist
Science and Technology Observatory, French High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (Hcéres).
2016 · Visiting Scholar
Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (CIRST), UQAM, invited by Yves Gingras.
PhD · Information and Communication Sciences
Université Sorbonne Paris Nord — The quantification of scientific research and its challenges: databases, indicators and bibliometric networks.
Graduate education
Master’s degree in Innovation and Intellectual Property Management; Master’s degree in Applied Economics and Financial Engineering.
Abdelghani Maddi, PhD
Research Engineer · GEMASS · CNRS & Sorbonne University ·
abdelghani.maddi@cnrs.fr
