A major Elsevier chemistry journal, Chemospherewas removed from Clarivate’s Web of Science index for failing to meet editorial quality criteria. This means that Clarivate will no longer index articles from Chemospherecount their citations or assign the title an impact factor.
The journal’s problems date back to last year, when eight articles were retracted in December 2024, and in May 2024 it was pointed out that more than 60 articles published by Chemosphere had an expression of concern added to them. The reasons given varied from article to article, but included unusual changes in authorship of the article before publication and potential manipulation of citations.
Chemosphere has also recently come under fire for a study published in September last year on high levels of flame retardants in black plastic cookware which received extensive media coverage. On December 15, the study authors published a correction explaining that they had miscalculated human exposure to flame retardants. The exposure was actually an order of magnitude less than the safe daily reference dose, and did not come close to it, as they had initially reported.
Clarivate has made the decision to remove Chemospherewhich had an impact factor of 8.1 in 2023, from its Web of Science index on December 16 for not having met the editorial quality criteria. Delisting has a direct impact on the journal and particularly on authors, as it can affect quantitative calculations of researcher output that are often used as a metric in hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions. Delisted journals may also have difficulty attracting authors.
According to Retraction watchExpressions of concern began to appear online in March 2024 and articles in special and regular issues of the journal were affected.
On December 12, Chemosphere issued a statement saying it had conducted a “thorough investigation” into the reported journals and was taking “decisive action” to ensure the integrity of the journal, including retracting articles and publishing expressions of concern.