SCI z-bio 2025-11-20 3520

　　On November 17, 2025 local time, WoS updated the database:

　　11 journals were eliminated (3 SCIE journals, 1 AHCI journal and 7 ESCI journals); 1 journal was renamed; 29 new ESCI journals were included.

　　It is worth noting that the three SCIE journals eliminated this time are all journals from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Region 2. They are:

　　Science of The Total Environment：Environmental field JCR Q1 Top of Area 2, Chinese Academy of Sciences

　　Computers in Biology and Medicine：JCR Q1 Area 2, Chinese Academy of Sciences

　　Results in Physics: Physics and Astrophysics JCR Q1 Area 2, Chinese Academy of Sciences

　　3 journals have been on hold for more than 1 year. At present, none of the three journals are on the warning list of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

　　In particular, Science of the Total Environment (STOTEN) has great influence in the environmental field. STOTEN publishes a large number of papers and has a high proportion of Chinese people. Except for being ranked in the 2nd District of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2021 and this year, it has been ranked TOP in the 1st District of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a long time. STOTEN's removal from SCIE has a great impact on scholars in the environmental field, causing many environmentalists to say, "The sky is falling!"

　　Science of The Total Environment

　　Computers in Biology and Medicine

　　Results in Physics

　　Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Sciences

　　It is reported that Science of The Total Environment was marked On Hold by WoS in October 2024. The well-known academic magazine Science also reported that the journal had peer review manipulation. Among the articles it published, 34 papers were identified with falsified reviewer information, and 28 editors (including the former editor-in-chief) had conflicts of interest - they were editors of articles as co-authors, involving 371 papers.

　　STOTEN has great influence in the environmental field. From the perspective of journal quality indicators, the impact factor has reached a peak in 2021 in recent years, but the CiteScore has been on the rise. In terms of the zoning of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, except for 2021 and 2025, the rest are the TOP of Zone 1 in the environmental category.

　　This journal was included in the WoS database in 1972, and the number of published articles has increased year by year since 2017. In the case of On Hold, its latest published articles in 2025 are still 906. At present, Chinese people account for 38.518%, and at the peak, Chinese people accounted for more than 55%. They are very friendly to Chinese people.

　　However, STOTEN has already prepared a backup plan. In January 2025, STOTEN launched three sub-journals (Total Environment Microbiology, Total Environment Engineering and Total Environment Advances). The areas for soliciting papers are highly overlapping with the total environment. They have been questioned as "transferring risks" and are official replacement journals for the total environment. Currently, 3 journals have not been included in relevant databases.

　　This journal was included in the WoS database in 1972, and the number of published articles has increased year by year since 2017. In the case of On Hold, its latest published articles in 2025 are still 906. At present, Chinese people account for 38.518%, and at the peak, Chinese people accounted for more than 55%. They are very friendly to Chinese people.

      Introduction to the journal Science of The Total Environment

　　Science of The Total Environment is an international, multidisciplinary journal that publishes novel, hypothesis-driven and high-impact research on the total environment, linking the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and human environment. This journal is published by the Dutch publishing company Elsevier and is widely regarded as one of the authoritative journals in the field of environmental science. The papers it publishes undergo strict peer review and have high academic quality and influence.

　　Event review:

　　October 2024 (ON HOLD)

　　Due to academic integrity issues and a surge in the number of publications, Clarivate initiated a review of STOTEN and suspended the search for new articles. At this time, the journal's annual publication volume has exceeded 8,000 articles, with a self-citation rate of 11%, and Chinese scholars account for a significant proportion of publications.

　　December 5, 2024 (large-scale retraction)

　　On December 5, 2024, the journal admitted that due to Elsevier’s review, 34 papers were found to have irregularities, including falsification of reviewer information, failure to disclose conflicts of interest, etc., and the number of retractions continued to increase.

　　Brazilian scholar Guilherme Malafaia has become the focus. Many of his papers have been withdrawn due to falsified reviewer information. STOTEN editor-in-chief Damià Barceló has also been implicated. Barceló not only handled Malafaia’s retracted papers, but also collaborated with Malafaia on multiple papers. The editor-in-chief involved has now been dismissed.

　　December 2025 (official response)

　　The official website of the General Circle released a response on the review of research integrity and publication ethics, promising to improve the review process and cooperate with Clarivate to strive to lift the "On Hold" status, but did not specify a timetable for rectification.

　　January 2025 (3 new sub-journals launched)

　　Launched 3 sub-journals (Total Environment Microbiology, Total Environment Engineering and Total Environment Advances), the areas for soliciting papers are highly overlapping with the general environment. This move has been questioned as "risk transfer" or "commercial expansion", which may dilute the brand value of Total Circle, or it may be that the official is building a replacement journal for Total Circle.

　　February 13-18, 2025 (another issue of academic integrity)

　　From February 13 to 18, 2025, more papers by Guilherme Malafaia were withdrawn, involving cross-field research on the impact of pesticides on Amazon turtles, contamination of new crown protective equipment, etc.

　　November 2025 (excluded from SCI)

　　In November 2025, it was removed from SCIE by Clarivate Analytics

　　29 new journals added to the list

　　Once a journal is "on hold", the probability of being removed is very high. Don't expect Clarivate to be merciful. If a certain journal is particularly successful, the review is rapid, and the number of publications increases sharply, you must be vigilant!