Cureus

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History and publication process

The journal was originally started as PeerEMed in 2009, obtaining its current name in December 2012. [1] Under its system, after an article is published, anyone can review it, but the reviews of experts will be given a higher score. [3] As of December 2022, the journal became part of the Springer Nature group of journals. [4]

If certain criteria are met, Cureus does not charge publication fees. [5]

Abstracting and indexing

The journal has been abstracted and indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index. As of October 2024, the journal's indexation in the Web of Science indices is "on hold" and pending re-evaluation, with the concerns on "the quality of the content published in this journal" being cited as a reason for the suspension. [6]

Reception

Its peer-review process involves asking experts to review a given article in a few days, which results in its peer reviews taking much less time than those of most other journals do. [3] Adler told Retraction Watch in 2015 that "Yes Cureus has an unusually fast review process, which is an important part of the journal’s philosophy. We believe that post publication peer review, a focus of our journal through commenting and our unique SIQ process, is potentially a more powerful way to discern truth." [7] SIQ refers to Cureus's trademark Scholarly Impact Quotient, a number calculated after publication that takes peer opinions into account. [8] Nevertheless, the speed and the quality of this peer review process, as well as the article-level metric SIQ used by Cureus has attracted the criticism of librarians [9] and scientists who worry that the SIQ could be gamed. [10]

A 2022 study conducted by librarians at Emory University reviewed NIH-funded research publications by Emory faculty over the last five years for work published in potentially predatory publications. The general criteria for assessing a "predatory" or controversial journal included: poor website quality and misleading claims about indexing and impact metrics; lack of transparency regarding peer-review practice expectations; lack of statements affirming adherence to common ethical standards; charges for removal of an article from consideration or for unsolicited copy editing and promises of rapid (within days to weeks rather than months) or guaranteed publication. Of 23,743 articles assessed, 109 were found. Of those, Cureus and Oncotarget together represented 50% of those publications. [11] The study does not specify the exact number from Cureus, nor does it specify precisely how a journal was classified as predatory or not.

Cureus was also criticized for having published a revision of an article that had been elsewhere retracted because of methodological reasons and scrutiny for “possible violations of medical ethics and human rights” (the results of a Covid-19 proxalutamide trial in Brazil). [12]

In April 2022, Cureus displayed a Wall of Shame to "highlight authors who have committed egregious ethical violations as well as the institutions that enabled them". [13] This feature drew criticism as it unjustly put the emphasis on individuals, in particular the corresponding author. This feature was withdrawn in May 2023.

In April 2022, Cureus published notes of concerns relating to nearly 50 papers published without the knowledge of the corresponding author/disputed authorship. In January 2024, 56 papers were retracted. [14]

In November 2024 and after previously strongly defending them, Cureus closed 6 of its "academic channels", which are effectively controlled by an outside entity that appoints “hand-picked editors [who] manage all content from submission to publication” and which many had associated with paper mills. [15]

Related Research Articles

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In academic publishing, a retraction is a mechanism by which a published paper in an academic journal is flagged for being seriously flawed to the extent that their results and conclusions can no longer be relied upon. Retracted articles are not removed from the published literature but marked as retracted. In some cases it may be necessary to remove an article from publication, such as when the article is clearly defamatory, violates personal privacy, is the subject of a court order, or might pose a serious health risk to the general public.

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<i>PLOS One</i> Peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Who's Afraid of Peer Review?</span> 2013 article by John Bohannon

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References

  1. 1 2 Molteni, Megan (2017-08-28). "A New Way for Doctors to Share Their Medical Mysteries". WIRED.
  2. ↑ "Our Editorial Board". Cureus. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  3. 1 2 Colliver, Victoria (2012-12-18). "Medical journal uses crowdsourcing model". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  4. ↑ "Cureus is now part of Springer Nature!". Cureus homepage. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  5. ↑ "Qualifying for Free Publication". Cureus. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Joelving, Frederik (September 30, 2024). "Web of Science puts mega-journals Cureus and Heliyon on hold". retractionwatch.com. Retraction Watch . Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Sex addiction article retracted, republished". Retraction Watch. 2015-11-02. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  8. ↑ "Scholarly Impact Quotient™ (SIQ™)". Cureus. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  9. ↑ Beall, Jeffrey (20 August 2016). "Some Strange Goings On at Cureus". Emerald City Journal. Scholarly Open Access. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  10. ↑ Besançon, Lonni. "Cureus, its reviewing, and its "Scholarly Impact Quotient" | Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science". statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  11. ↑ Sparks, Katie; Powell, Kimberly R. (2022-08-01). "Assessing Predatory Journal Publishing Within Health Sciences Authors" (PDF). Special Libraries Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-03-28.
  12. ↑ Kincaid, Ellie (2022-06-10). "Researcher attacks journal for retracting his paper on COVID-19 drug". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  13. ↑ Grove, Jack (2022-04-25). "Journal concedes 'Wall of Shame' could cause 'unjust' harm". Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  14. ↑ Oransky, Ivan (2024-01-26). "Journal retracts more than 50 studies from Saudi Arabia for faked authorship". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  15. ↑ Oransky, Ivan (2024-11-22). "Mega journal Cureus kicks out organizations critics called paper mills". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
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