ISTOCK, FACTORYTHMedline—a government biomedical research database—no longer lists new research articles from a cancer journal with a troubled reputation.
Oncotarget, published by Impact Journals, was included in a now-inactive list of “possible predatory publishers” maintained by Jeffrey Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado Denver. Beall has criticized Oncotarget’s peer review process as “questionable.”
According to Retraction Watch, Oncotarget has issued “a handful” of recent retractions. This includes a paper published earlier this year on the genetics that underlie the development of cancer that was reportedly pulled due to “data errors” and “negligence.” Retraction Watch reports that the editor-in-chief, Mikhail Blagosklonny, considered retracting the research papers of Beall’s colleagues after the journal had been added to Beall’s list and Beall alerted the journal to potential problems with the publications.
Medline is maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, which gave no explanation ...
