An Elsevier multidisciplinary open-access journal, “Heliyon“, has retracted a significant number of research papers following an internal audit. According to Crossref data, Heliyon has retracted 246 papers so far.
| Year | Number of Papers Retracted |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 |
| 2025 | 199 |
| 2024 | 26 |
| 2023 | 16 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2021 | 2 |
| Total | 246 |
Heliyon considers research from all areas of the physical, applied, life, social, and medical sciences. At present, Heliyon remains indexed in Scopus, but its Web of Science status is unresolved.
Clarivate Puts Heliyon “On Hold”
In September 2024, Clarivate placed Heliyon “On Hold” in the Web of Science database, citing concerns about the quality of published content. An “on-hold” status means the journal is under re-evaluation, and newly published articles are not indexed during this period.
Clarivate has stated:
Concerns have been raised about the quality of the content published in this journal. The journal is being re-evaluated according to our selection criteria; new content will not be indexed during the course of the re-evaluation.
When the evaluation is complete, the publisher will be informed of the outcome and the journal will either:
- be removed from coverage if it no longer meets the quality criteria
- or remain covered if it continues to meet the quality criteria.
If the journal meets the quality criteria, any missing content will be indexed. If the journal is removed from coverage, content will not be backfilled. In the most serious cases of breaches in a journal’s editorial standards, as determined by our selection criteria, published content may be removed from Web of Science. Timeframes for completing a re-evaluation will depend on the particular circumstances of each case.
Must read: Multiple Retractions announced in International Review of Financial Analysis (Elsevier)
Common Reasons for Retraction
The retraction notices cite multiple issues, including:
- Reference and citation problems
- Citation stacking
- Suspicious author affiliations and research areas
- Changes in authorship after submission
- Ethical approval concerns
- Compliance and editorial integrity issues