 | |
| Discipline | Natural sciences |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Rafal Marszalek |
| Publication details | |
| History | 2011–present |
| Publisher | |
| Frequency | Continuous |
| Yes | |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution |
| 3.9 (2024) | |
| Standard abbreviations ISO 4 (alt) · Bluebook (alt) NLM (alt) · MathSciNet (alt  ) | |
| ISO 4 | Sci. Rep. |
| Indexing CODEN (alt) · JSTOR (alt) · LCCN (alt) MIAR · NLM (alt) · Scopus · W&L | |
| CODEN | SRCEC3 |
| ISSN | 2045-2322 |
| LCCN | 2011250880 |
| OCLC no. | 732869387 |
| Links | |
Scientific Reports is apeer-reviewedopen-accessscientificmega journal published byNature Portfolio, covering all areas of thenatural sciences. The journal was established in 2011.[1] 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.[2]
In September 2016, the journal became the largest in the world by number of articles, overtakingPLOS One.[3][4][5]
The journal is abstracted and indexed in theChemical Abstracts Service,[6] theScience Citation Index Expanded, and selectively inIndex Medicus/MEDLINE/PubMed.[7] According to theJournal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2024impact factor 3.9.[8]
TheGuide 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",[9] but this procedure has been questioned.[10]
Allegedly duplicated and manipulated images in a 2016 paper that were not detected during peer review led to criticism from the scientific community.[11] The article was retracted in June 2016.[12]
In 2018, Scientific Reports appeared on a blacklist from the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center at Sun Yat-sen University inGuangzhou, amid moves by the Chinese government to create national blacklists for journals.[13]
The face ofDonald Trump was hidden in an image of baboon feces in a paper published in 2018. The journal later removed the image.[14]
A 2018 paper claimed that ahomeopathic treatment could attenuate pain in rats. It was retracted 8 months later after "swift criticism" from the scientific community.[15][16]
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.[17] The paper was later corrected.
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".[18]
It tookScientific 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.[19]
A study published in the journal on June 24, 2019, claimed that fluctuations in the sun were causing global warming.[20] Based on severe criticism from the scientific community,Scientific Reports started an investigation on the validity of this study,[21] and it was retracted by the editors in March 2020.[22]
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".[23]
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 whyScientific Reports agreed to publish this paper.[24] The paper was eventually retracted in January 2021.[25]
A paper published in September 2021 implied that the Biblical story of the destruction ofSodom 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.[26] On February 15, 2023, the following editor's note was posted on this paper, "Readers are alerted that concerns raised about the data presented and the conclusions of this article are being considered by the Editors. A further editorial response will follow the resolution of these issues." Allen West, the corresponding author, was listed as a member of the journal's editorial board shortly before the paper was published.[27] In 2025 the paper was retracted.
In 2015, editorMark Maslin resigned because the journal introduced a trial of a fast-track peer-review service for biology manuscripts in exchange for an additional fee.[28][29] The trial ran for a month.[30]
In November 2017, 19 editorial board members stepped down due to the journal not retracting a plagiarised 2016 study.[31] The article was eventually retracted in March 2018.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (Retracted, seedoi:10.1038/s41598-020-61020-3, PMID 32132618, Retraction Watch)
| Holtzbrinck |
|  | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macmillan |
| ||||||||||||
| Springer Nature (53%) | |||||||||||||