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factoids

Scientific Reports is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific mega journal published by Nature Portfolio, covering all areas of the natural sciences. The journal was established in 2011.Ann Koopman (January 10, 2011). Nature Launches New Open Access Journal: Scientific Reports, Library News, Thomas Jefferson University. Retrieved 24 April 2020. The journal states that their aim is to assess solely the scientific validity of a submitted paper, rather than its perceived importance, significance, or impact.WEB,www.nature.com/srep/journal-policies/referees#criteria, Criteria for publication, Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group, In September 2016, the journal became the largest in the world by number of articles, overtaking PLOS ONE.WEB,scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/08/23/scientific-reports-on-track-to-become-largest-journal-in-the-world/, Scientific Reports On Track To Become Largest Journal In The World, Davis, Phil, 2016-08-23, The Scholarly Kitchen, 2016-08-24, WEB,scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2017/04/06/scientific-reports-overtakes-plos-one-as-largest-megajournal/, Scientific Reports Overtakes PLOS ONE As Largest Megajournal, 2017-04-06, The Scholarly Kitchen, 2017-04-06, NEWS,www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/mega-journals-future-stepping-stone-it-or-leap-abyss, Mega-journals: the future, a stepping stone to it or a leap into the abyss?, 2016-10-13, Times Higher Education, 2016-10-16,

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in the Chemical Abstracts Service,WEB,cassi.cas.org/search.jsp, CAS Source Index, American Chemical Society, Chemical Abstracts Service, 2018-08-24, the Science Citation Index Expanded, and selectively in Index Medicus/MEDLINE/PubMed.WEB,www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/101563288, Scientific Reports, NLM Catalog, National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2018-08-24, According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2022 impact factor 4.6.BOOK, 2022 Journal Citation Reports, Journal Citation Reports, Clarivate, 2023, Science, Web of Science, Scientific Reports,

Reviewing policy

The Guide to Referees states that to be published, “a paper must be scientifically valid and technically sound in methodology and analysis”, and reviewers have to ensure manuscripts “are not assessed based on their perceived importance, significance or impact”,WEB,www.nature.com/srep/journal-policies/referees#criteria, Guide to Referees, Scientific Reports, 2018-11-18, but this procedure has been questioned.WEB,www.science.org/content/blog-post/more-scientific-reports-and-faked-papers, More on Scientific Reports, And on Faked Papers, Lowe, Derek, Derek Lowe (chemist), 15 June 2016, In the Pipeline, Blog, 1 September 2017,

Controversies

Controversial articles

2016

Allegedly duplicated and manipulated images in a 2016 paper that were not detected during peer review led to criticism from the scientific community.WEB,retractionwatch.com/2016/06/10/author-denies-accusations-of-blatant-duplication/, Author denies accusations of blatant duplication, Palus, Shannon, 10 June 2016, Retraction Watch, 2 September 2019, The article was retracted in June 2016.JOURNAL, 2016, Retraction: Novel piperazine core compound induces death in human liver cancer cells: possible pharmacological properties, Scientific Reports, 6, 29056, 10.1038/srep29056, 27328968, 4916487, 2016NatSR...629056S, Samie, Nima, Muniandy, Sekaran, Kanthimathi, M. S., Haerian, Batoul Sadat, Azudin, Raja Elina Raja,

2018

In 2018, Scientific Reports appeared on a blacklist from the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, amid moves by the Chinese government to create national blacklists for journals.JOURNAL, Cyranoski, David, China awaits controversial blacklist of ‘poor quality’ journals,www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07025-5, Nature, 16 October 2018, 562, 7728, 471–472, 10.1038/d41586-018-07025-5, 30353153, 2018Natur.562..471C, 256767508, free, The face of Donald Trump was hidden in an image of baboon feces in a paper published in 2018. The journal later removed the image.WEB,retractionwatch.com/2018/12/21/unusual-aspects-of-a-figure-aka-a-cartoon-of-trumps-face-in-baboon-feces-disappear-from-a-journal/, “Unusual aspects” of a figure — aka a cartoon of Trump’s face in baboon feces — disappear from a journal, Oransky, Oran, 21 December 2018, Retraction Watch, 18 September 2019,

2019

A 2018 paper claimed that a homeopathic treatment could attenuate pain in rats. It was retracted 8 months later after “swift criticism” from the scientific community.WEB,retractionwatch.com/2019/06/11/permeable-to-bad-science-journal-retracts-paper-hailed-by-proponents-of-homeopathy/#more-100085, “Permeable to bad science:” Journal retracts paper hailed by proponents of homeopathy, Oransky, Oran, 11 June 2019, Retraction Watch, 1 September 2019, JOURNAL, Peer-reviewed homeopathy study sparks uproar in Italy, Nature, 20 October 2018, Guglielmi, Giorgia, 562, 7726, 10.1038/d41586-018-06967-0, 173–174, 30301997, 2018Natur.562..173G, free, A controversial 2018 paper suggested that too much bent-neck staring at a cell phone could grow a “horn” on the back of someone’s head. The study also failed to mention the conflict of interests of the first author.WEB,retractionwatch.com/2019/09/18/text-neck-aka-horns-paper-earns-corrections/#more-116135, ‘Text neck’ — aka ‘horns’ — paper earns corrections, Marcus, Adam, 18 September 2019, Retraction Watch, 18 September 2019, The paper was later corrected.

2020

A 2016 study proclaimed that a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine caused impaired mobility and brain damage in mice. The paper alarmed public health advocates in Japan and worldwide because of the potential side effects of the HPV vaccine on humans. The study was retracted two years later because “the experimental approach does not support the objectives of the study”.WEB, Don Ward, Hackett, Precision Vaccinations, HPV Vaccine Research From Japan Withdrawn,www.precisionvaccinations.com/scientific-reports-retracting-hpv-article-because-research-approach-did-not-support-study-objectives, 11 May 2018, 8 May 2020, It took Scientific Reports more than four years to retract a plagiarized study from a bachelor’s thesis of a Hungarian mathematician. The paper, entitled “Modified box dimension and average weighted receiving time on the weighted fractal networks”, was published in December 2015, and the plagiarism was reported in January 2016 by the former bachelor student. In April 2020, the paper was retracted.WEB, Marcus, Adam, An author realized a paper had plagiarized his thesis. It took the journal four years to retract it.,retractionwatch.com/2020/04/20/an-author-realized-a-paper-had-plagiarized-his-thesis-it-took-the-journal-four-years-to-retract-it/#more-119283, Retraction Watch, 20 April 2020, A study published in the journal on June 24, 2019, claimed that fluctuations in the sun were causing global warming.JOURNAL, V. V. Zharkova, S. J. Shepherd, S. I. Zharkov & E. Popova, Oscillations of the baseline of solar magnetic field and solar irradiance on a millennial timescale, Scientific Reports, 2019, 9, 1, 9197, 10.1038/s41598-019-45584-3, 31235834, 6591297, Based on severe criticism from the scientific community, Scientific Reports started an investigation on the validity of this study,WEB, Vaughan, Adam, Journal criticised for study claiming sun is causing global warming,www.newscientist.com/article/2209895-journal-criticised-for-study-claiming-sun-is-causing-global-warming/, New Scientist, 24 February 2020, and it was retracted by the editors in March 2020.JOURNAL, Retraction Note: Oscillations of the baseline of solar magnetic field and solar irradiance on a millennial timescale, Scientific Reports, 2020, 10, 10.1038/s41598-020-61020-3, Zharkova, V. V., Shepherd, S. J., Zharkov, S. I., Popova, E., 1, 4336, 32132618, 7055216, 2020NatSR..10.4336Z,

2021

Scientific Reports retracted a 2019 paper in January 2021 which claimed that “both Creationism and Big Bang theory are wrong, and that black holes are the engines driving the universe”.WEB, Marcus, Adam, “Confrontation is an important element of physics progress:” Paper on black holes retracted,retractionwatch.com/2021/01/13/confrontation-is-an-important-element-of-physics-progress-paper-on-black-holes-retracted/, Retraction Watch, 13 January 2021, A paper published in July 2020, which said body weight can be correlated with being honest or dishonest, caused consternation among social media users, questioning why Scientific Reports agreed to publish this paper.WEB, Marcus, Adam, Springer Nature journal retracts BMI, honesty paper,retractionwatch.com/2021/01/13/springer-nature-journal-retracts-bmi-honesty-paper/, Retraction Watch, 13 January 2021, The paper was eventually retracted in January 2021.WEB, Marcus, Adam, ‘Deeply unfair’: First author of newly retracted paper on weight and honesty speaks out,retractionwatch.com/2021/01/13/deeply-unfair-first-author-of-newly-retracted-paper-on-weight-and-honesty-speaks-out/, Retraction Watch, 14 January 2021, A paper published in September 2021 implied that the Biblical story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah might have been a retelling of an exploding asteroid around the year 1,650 BCE. The paper received criticism on social media and by data sleuths for using a doctored image.WEB, Marcus, Adam, Criticism engulfs paper claiming an asteroid destroyed Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah,retractionwatch.com/2021/10/01/criticism-engulfs-paper-claiming-an-asteroid-destroyed-biblical-sodom-and-gomorrah/, Retraction Watch, October 2021,

Resignations of editorial board members

In 2015, editor Mark Maslin resigned because the journal introduced a trial of a fast-track peer-review service for biology manuscripts in exchange for an additional fee.JOURNAL, Bohannon, John, Updated: Editor quits journal over pay-for-expedited peer-review offer, Science (journal), Science, 27 March 2015, 10.1126/science.aab0391, JOURNAL, Cressey, Daniel, Concern raised over payment for fast-track peer review, Nature (journal), Nature, 27 March 2015, 10.1038/nature.2015.17204, 167469822, free, The trial ran for a month.WEB, Jackson, Alex, 21 April 2015, Fast-track peer review experiment: First findings, Of Schemes and Memes Blog,blogs.nature.com/ofschemesandmemes/2015/04/21/fast-track-peer-review-experiment-first-findings, 4 September 2019, 4 September 2019,blogs.nature.com/ofschemesandmemes/2015/04/21/fast-track-peer-review-experiment-first-findings," title="web.archive.org/web/20190904092922blogs.nature.com/ofschemesandmemes/2015/04/21/fast-track-peer-review-experiment-first-findings,">web.archive.org/web/20190904092922blogs.nature.com/ofschemesandmemes/2015/04/21/fast-track-peer-review-experiment-first-findings, dead, In November 2017, 19 editorial board members stepped down due to the journal not retracting a plagiarised 2016 study.WEB,www.the-scientist.com/the-nutshell/mass-resignation-from-scientific-reportss-editorial-board-30650, Mass Resignation from Scientific Reports’s Editorial Board, Offord, Catherine, 6 November 2017, The Scientist (magazine), The Scientist, 1 September 2019, The article was eventually retracted in March 2018.

See also

• Nature Communications
• Cell Reports

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Scientific Reports}}

• {{Official websitewww.nature.com/srep/index.html}}

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