Clarivate has removed the mega-journal Cureus from its Master Journal List, according to the October update, released today.
The move means Cureus will no longer be indexed in Web of Science or receive an impact factor. As we have reported, it can also mean researchers are less likely to submit to the journal, given universities rely on such metrics to judge researchers’ work for tenure and promotion decisions.
Clarivate put indexing for the journal on hold last September for concerns about article quality, which the journal has been criticized for in the past.
Cureus has retracted about 125 papers since Springer Nature acquired the title in late 2022. Last year, the journal closed six of its academic channels critics described as dressed-up paper mills, and has had to repeatedly retract plagiarized articles, as we’ve previously reported.
In August, Cureus eliminated author suggestions for peer reviewers in an attempt to decrease potential conflicts of interest. The journal has had authorship issues in the past, as we’ve previously reported. In 2021, a medical resident in New Jersey invited his wife to review his papers without disclosing their relationship, resulting in five retractions. In 2019, another author faked reviewer accounts for two well-known neurosurgeons and was discovered only after a routine editorial audit.
Rebecca Krahenbuhl, a communications manager at Clarivate, told us a journal is removed from the Master Journals List when it “no longer meets” 24 quality criteria. These criteria include appropriate citations, adequate and effective peer review, and primarily original scholarly content, according to the company’s website.
Krahenbuhl also told us journals are typically on hold for an average of around six weeks, but in cases where publishers “engage” with Clarivate, the company allows journals to remain on hold for longer “to allow time for publishers to conduct their own investigations and take corrective action should they decide to do so.”
Graham Parker-Finger, the publishing director at Cureus, told us the journal was “very disappointed” in Clarivate’s decision and noted the journal would continue “to offer fast, affordable, trusted and quality-assured publishing for the global medical community.”
John Adler Jr., the founder and editor-in-chief of the journal, acknowledged our request for comment, and noted his nearly 16-year tenure as editor-in-chief would be ending this year. In a LinkedIn post dated October 26, Adler linked to an analysis of neurosurgery papers by country income group and wrote:
The journal industry uses an “aura” of intellectual exclusivity to protect its obscene profits. Journals protect their business franchize [sic] through both excessively complex editorial processes (WOS, COPE), which notably lack any evidence of social benefit, and high prices, which in combination disadvantage authors from developing countries. Nothing scares the journal world more than democratizing journals. 😊
We’ve also reached out to Springer Nature for comment and will post any updates.
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