Soft Computing, a reputed journal published by Springer Nature, retracted 548 research papers over concerns related to compromised peer review, editorial manipulation, irrelevant citations, and unreliable findings.
Of the total retracted papers, 278 involved authors affiliated with Indian institutions. This draws significant attention from the research community in India and abroad.
The large-scale retractions reportedly began in July 2025 and continued through multiple waves in 2026.
The publisher also indicated that investigations are still ongoing and more retractions could follow in the future.
About the Journal “Soft Computing”
Soft Computing is a well-known international journal focusing on artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational intelligence, optimization, and theoretical computer science.
Journal Details
| Particular | Information |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH |
| ISSN | 1432-7643, 1433-7479 |
| Impact Factor | 2.5 |
| SJR | 0.674 |
| Quartile | Q2 |
| Indexing | Scopus, Web of Science, UGC CARE |
| H-Index | 120 |
| Publication Language | English |
| Open Access | No |
| Country | Germany |
Why Were the Papers Retracted?
According to the retraction notices issued by the publisher, the investigation identified multiple serious concerns, including:
- Compromised editorial handling
- Manipulated or compromised peer-review process
- Inappropriate or irrelevant references
- Articles outside the journal’s scope
- Guest-edited issue irregularities
- Unreliable results and conclusions
- Possible editorial misconduct involving rogue editors
The publisher stated:
“Based on the investigation’s findings the publisher no longer has confidence in the results and conclusions of this article.”