The National Library of Medicine has stopped indexing articles from Scientific Reports in MEDLINE because the journal’s inclusion in the world’s largest biomedical library is under review, Retraction Watch has learned.
“Following its significant growth in recent years, Scientific Reports is currently being reviewed by the US National Library of Medicine (NLM),” the journal’s chief editor Rafal Marszalek wrote in an Oct. 20 email we have seen. “We have been informed that during this period, indexing of newly published content in MEDLINE and archiving in PubMed Central (PMC) are paused, and will not appear in PubMed.”
Marszalek did not say why NLM is reviewing Scientific Reports, which is the largest journal in PubMed in terms of articles indexed. But according to MEDLINE’s policies page, NLM re-evaluates journals if “there are significant changes to a journal,” noting the library monitors journals “for changes in publication practices, such as annual publication volume or primary article content types.”
The most recent Scientific Reports articles in PubMed were published September 15, and it has indexed 28,593 articles in 2026, excluding errata and retraction notices. According to the journal’s website, it has published 41,122 articles this year.
Scientific Reports “has grown significantly since its launch 15 years ago when it was also first indexed by National Library of Medicine (NLM),” Richard White, vice president of publishing for the Scientific Reports Portfolio, said in a statement to Retraction Watch. “It has published over one million authors and in 2025 research from the journal was cited over one million times. We remain committed to maintaining high standards of quality and are actively working with the NLM to provide any updated information they need.”
The anomaly was discovered by Tom Lahey, a self-described “independent, self-funded researcher with an interest in public health and research.” Lahey maintains a set of tools based on PubMed data, including a page showing journals ranked by total articles in PubMed. Scientific Reports has had the most articles indexed in PubMed each year since 2019, by Lahey’s count. He is familiar with the typical delays in data processing, but when he noticed lower-than-usual numbers for Scientific Reports for two months in a row, he opened a support ticket with NLM to inquire why. The PubMed team suggested he contact the publisher, which he did. Marszalek replied to him on October 20 revealing NLM was reviewing the journal.
“Something really must have gone sideways,” Lahey told Retraction Watch.
Neither the journal’s NLM catalog entry nor its PubMed Central listing indicate the journal is under review. NLM did not immediately respond to questions about the reasons for the review or how long it is expected to take, or whether the list of journals being reevaluated is made public. But the policy page states reevaluation typically takes seven to 10 months.
“We are in contact with NLM, and we expect that indexing, including of content published during the current period, will resume following the review,” Marszalek said in the email.
Scientific Reports, published by Springer Nature, has around 50 full-time deputy, senior and associate editors, and more than 11,000 editorial board members. Its article processing charge is $2850.
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“We remain committed to maintaining high standards of quality….”
Did he say that with a straight face?
Well said. I’ve been in disbelief for a while at the quality at SR.
If you say it often enough you will ultimately believe your own lies.