Cancers (MDPI) — Critical Journal Review
📊 Strengths and Features
- Impact and Visibility
- 2024 Impact Factor ≈ 4.4 (Q2, rank 85/326 in Oncology).
- Scimago SJR: 1.462 (Q1) | H-index: 157.
- Scope and Coverage
- Publishes broad oncology content: basic science, translational, clinical, reviews, and negative results.
- Open access and global visibility.
- Speed and Accessibility
- Rapid editorial process and frequent publication schedule (semi-monthly).
- No backlog — accepted articles appear promptly online.
- Indexing and Recognition
- Indexed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (SCI-E), EMBASE, CINAHL.
- Affiliated with societies such as IACR and STS.
🔍 Critical Issues and Limitations
- Peer Review Rigor
- Concerns about overly fast reviews and superficial peer evaluation.
- Review transparency questioned — sometimes only positive reviews made public.
- Special Issues Proliferation
- High volume of special issues may reduce editorial control and consistency.
- Editorial invitations often automated or perceived as low-selectivity.
- Predatory Publisher Concerns
- MDPI previously listed in Beall’s list; still controversial in some academic circles.
- Finland (2024) rated many MDPI journals as Level 0 (non-academic).
- Example of Errors
- Documented cases of statistical errors and uncorrected mistakes in published articles.
- Some PubPeer threads criticize editorial handling of flagged articles.
🤝 Balanced Summary
| Strengths | Concerns |
|---|---|
| Indexed, visible, and open access | Fast publication may sacrifice rigor |
| Broad thematic inclusion | Quality varies across special issues |
| Good for negative or confirmatory studies | Predatory publisher accusations persist |
🧭 Conclusion
*Cancers* is a moderately respected open-access oncology journal offering high visibility, fast publication, and broad coverage. However, critical evaluation of each article is essential due to the variability in editorial rigor and the mass-production nature of MDPI’s publishing model.
Recommendation: Use *Cancers* for transparent, well-documented studies that benefit from rapid dissemination — but maintain a high standard of internal methodological rigor, and be selective as a reader.