Just this year, Retraction Watch reported Saveetha was among 14 universities with "questionable publication practices", defined as unusually fast growth in research output, as measured by published journal articles. 2023 investigation into Saveetha’s dental school uncovered an elaborate self-citation scheme: Undergraduates write manuscripts as part of their exams; student and faculty reviewers then insert scores of citations to papers by Saveetha faculty to inflate the university’s citation rankings.
Channels on the publishing platform enable "channel members to publish peer-reviewed articles, as well as post meeting abstracts, posters, announcements and other content produced by channel members, staff, residents, and/or students", according to a guide on the Cureus website. Institutions pay a fee to have a Cureus channel. "The channel was closed on March 18th, 2025 because of non-payment of fees. No other channels were removed." said a Cureus spokesperson.
"Cureus’ response implies that had Saveetha continued to pay their fee, they would have kept their channel. This suggests profound inattentiveness towards publication ethics by Cureus and, by extension, Springer Nature." said Reese Richardson, Northwestern University staff member and participant of research about Saveetha.
More: https://retractionwatch.com/2025/04/08/saveetha-dental-institute-india-cureus-channel/
