| Cureus | |
| Former Name: | PeerEMed |
| Abbreviation: | Cureus |
| Discipline: | Medicine |
| Editors: | John R. Adler, Alexander Muacevic |
| Publisher: | Springer Nature |
| History: | 2009–present |
| Frequency: | Irregular |
| Openaccess: | Yes |
| License: | CC-BY 4.0 |
| Impact: | 1.2 |
| Impact-Year: | 2022 |
| Eissn: | 2168-8184 |
| Lccn: | 2012200440 |
| Website: | https://www.cureus.com/ |
| Link2: | https://www.cureus.com/articles |
| Link2-Name: | Online archive |
Cureus: Journal of Medical Science is a web-based open access general medical journal that uses an accelerated pre-publication peer-review and an optional post-publication 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]
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]
The journal has been abstracted and indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index., 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]
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. 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]