The publisher of a high-profile and now-corrected study on black plastics has been removed from an important index of academic journals amid questions about its quality standards. According to a report from Retraction Watch.
On December 16, Clarivate, an academic publishing analysis company, removed the journal Chemosphere from its platform. web of sciencean important index of academic journals. Indexing platforms track citations and calculate a journal’s “impact factor”, which is a proxy for its field relevance. This is an important metric not only for journals, but also for academic authors of journal articles who use the score for promotion and research funding.
To be included in the Web of Science, Clarivate requires journals to follow editorial quality standards. According to Retraction Watch, the chemosphere is 8 articles retracted Published this month 60 expressions of concern Since April.
in December 12th news releaseChemosphere acknowledged the quality concerns and indicated the necessary steps to improve the editorial process. These include improved scrutiny and peer review of papers, as well as guarantees that papers will be retracted if there is evidence of policy violations.
“We believe these steps will help restore the standards of research integrity that have always been so important to us,” the news release said.
questionable conclusion
It was removed from Web of Science on December 16, the day after a correction was issued regarding the black plastic study. The study claims to have found a “high exposure potential” for toxic flame retardants in plastic household items made from recycled electronics, particularly kitchen items. The discovery sparked a flurry of media coverage urging people to throw away black plastic utensils in their kitchens immediately.
