Open access general medical journal with postpublication peer review
Academic journal
Cureus, Journal of Medical Science, is a web-based peer-reviewed open access general medical journal using prepublication peer review. It is also the first academic journal which provides authors with step-by-step templates for them to use to write their papers.[1] The journal's founding editors-in-chief are John R. Adler (Stanford University) and Alexander Muacevic (University of Munich).[2]
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]
Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted and indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index.
Controversies
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."[5] Nevertheless, the speed and the quality of this peer review process, as well as the article-level metric "Scholarly Impact Quotient" (SIQ) used by Cureus has attracted the criticism of librarians[6] and scientists who worry that the SIQ could be gamed.[7]
A study conducted by librarians of Emory University found that Cureus was in the top 2 of institutional publications deemed predatory or untrustworthy.[8]
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).[9]
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".[10] This feature drew criticism as it unjustly put the emphasis on individuals, in particular the corresponding author. This feature was withdrawn in May 2023.[11]
