Cureus
Cureus is a peer-reviewed, Gold Open Access medical journal platform operating across 60+ specialties with a 29-day median publication time. Backed by Springer Nature, it serves individual medical researchers, clinical physicians, and academic institutions globally through freemium author publishing and subscription-based Academic Channels.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Cureus does
Cureus, Inc. operates a peer-reviewed, Gold Open Access medical journal platform known as the Cureus Journal of Medical Science. Founded in 2010 in San Francisco and now operating as a fully virtual organization with distributed editorial offices in San Francisco, Atlanta, and Munich, the company is backed by Springer Nature, which provides publishing infrastructure and credibility while Cureus retains operational independence. The platform covers 60+ medical specialties and has accumulated 165,000+ citations, 6.3 million monthly reads, and 1.2 million monthly readers, achieving a Clarivate Impact Factor of 1.3.
The core technology is an online peer-reviewed publishing platform with an integrated article management system. Notable proprietary components include the SIQ (Scholarly Impact Quotient), a trademarked post-publication rating system that weights specialist community input more heavily than non-expert ratings, and a single-blind peer review system that automates reviewer matching via specialty keywords and uses Greek letter codes for anonymous reviewer identification, with automated escalation if reviews are delayed. Submissions are checked for plagiarism through an integration with Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate), and reference management is supported through EndNote citation style files. The platform reaches readers through indexing partnerships with PubMed Central, PubMed, and Google Scholar.
Cureus monetizes primarily on the author and sponsor side rather than through reader paywalls. Approximately one-third of submissions meet formatting and language standards and publish for free; the remainder pay approximately $385 for the Preferred Editing service, which is mandatory for review articles regardless of quality. Additional revenue comes from targeted advertising through partnerships with Everyday Health and Publisher Health, subscription-based Academic Channels for institutions seeking branded research destinations, and sponsored Publishing Competitions funded by medical device companies such as Zap Surgical Systems and Accuray. The customer base is highly distributed globally across medical researchers, clinical physicians, academic institutions, and a long tail of individual authors in 60+ specialties, with explicit geographic restrictions limited to North Korea, Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk.
Cureus firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cureus
- Legal name
- Cureus, Inc.
- Website
- https://cureus.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Cureus is a peer-reviewed, Gold Open Access medical journal platform operating across 60+ specialties with a 29-day median publication time. Backed by Springer Nature, it serves individual medical researchers, clinical physicians, and academic institutions globally through freemium author publishing and subscription-based Academic Channels.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cureus industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Academic Medical Publishing
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Medical, Clinical & Biomedical Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Medical & Clinical Reference (Physicians, Nursing, Allied Health) (EDAGAGAA), Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)
Keywords
Where Cureus is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Cureus business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Author Publication Fees (Preferred Editing): Authors requiring extensive editing services pay approximately $385 for the Preferred Editing service. Approximately one-third of submissions meet formatting requirements and publish for free.
- Advertising & Sponsorship: Cureus partners with Everyday Health and Publisher Health to serve targeted advertisements from healthcare companies. Additional sponsorship through publishing competitions sponsored by medical device companies.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | One time | Free Publication (Standard) |
| One time/ perpetual license | One time | Preferred Editing Service |
| Other | One time | Social Media Article Promotion |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Cureus product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cureus operates an online peer-reviewed open access medical journal platform (Cureus Journal of Medical Science) where medical researchers can submit and publish articles across 60+ specialties with a median time to publish of 29 days. The platform charges approximately $385 for a Preferred Editing service (or publishes qualifying submissions for free), distributes all content under CC-BY 4.0 Gold Open Access, and employs a proprietary SIQ post-publication rating system alongside an automated single-blind peer review process.
Product overview
Cureus is a peer-reviewed open access medical journal platform backed by Springer Nature, offering a unified publishing ecosystem with rapid 29-day median publication times. The core product is the Cureus Journal of Medical Science, supplemented by the SIQ (Scholarly Impact Quotient) post-publication rating system for community-driven article assessment. Optional paid services include the Preferred Editing Service for formatting assistance. The platform also features Cureus Collections for thematic article curation, Academic Channels for institutional branding, Publishing Competitions for research visibility, Cureus U for specialty-based curated content, and Picture Quizzes for continuing medical education.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SIQ (Scholarly Impact Quotient): A proprietary post-publication rating system that reflects an article's scientific impact as judged by the medical community.
- Preferred Editing
- Cureus Collections
- Cureus Channels
- Cureus U
Products and services
- Cureus Journal of Medical Science Peer-reviewed open access medical research journal covering 60+ specialties, with a median time to publish of 29 days from submission, free Gold Open Access (CC-BY 4.0) for all readers, and indexing in PubMed Central, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Targeted at medical researchers, clinicians, and academic authors worldwide.
- Preferred Editing Service Paid editorial service costing approximately $385 per article, providing formatting, grammar, and language corrections for submissions that do not meet Cureus formatting standards. Required for all review articles regardless of quality. Targeted at medical researchers and authors whose manuscripts need professional editing before publication.
- Academic Channels Subscription-based institutional publishing service that enables academic departments, medical schools, and medical societies to create branded research destinations showcasing their faculty research and clinical experiences. Targeted at academic institutions and medical societies seeking institutional research visibility.
Companies that use Cureus
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Cureus technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
Feature2 records
Cureus partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Everyday HealthminorAdvertising partnership for serving targeted advertisements from healthcare companies to journal readers.
- Publisher HealthminorAdvertising partnership for serving targeted advertisements from healthcare companies to journal readers.
- Springer NaturecoreMajor academic publisher backing Cureus, providing infrastructure, credibility, and publishing expertise while Cureus maintains operational independence.
- Crossref (iThenticate)coreAll article submissions analyzed for research plagiarism and text duplication using Crossref Similarity Check Powered by iThenticate.
- Zap Surgical SystemsminorSponsor of 'Dedicated Cranial Radiosurgery: Clinical Experience with New & Innovative SRS Technologies' publishing competition.
- Accuray, Inc.minorSponsor of 'Real-Time Adaptive Motion Management on Helical and Robotic RT Platforms' publishing competition.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cureus competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- PLOS (Public Library of Science): PLOS is a leading open access scholarly publisher operating PLOS ONE and other journals, competing directly with Cureus for author submissions in the medical and life sciences under a similar open access, author-fee model.
- BioMed Central (BMC): BMC is a major open access publisher of peer-reviewed medical journals and a Springer Nature sibling brand, making it the most direct competitor in both product offering and parent-group overlap.
- Frontiers Media: Frontiers operates a large portfolio of open access medical journals with a tech-enabled peer review platform, competing head-to-head with Cureus for authors who value fast, structured, transparent review processes.
- MDPI: MDPI is a large open access publisher with broad medical journal coverage, known for rapid publication and author-fee monetization — directly comparable to Cureus's value proposition for medical researchers.
- Dove Medical Press: Dove Medical Press publishes open access peer-reviewed medical journals across multiple specialties, sharing Cureus's focus on fast turnaround and broad specialty coverage.
- PeerJ: PeerJ is an open access publisher in the life and medical sciences, offering a low-cost membership-based publishing model comparable to Cureus's low-cost / free author-fee approach.
- BMJ Open: BMJ Open is the open access arm of BMJ publishing peer-reviewed medical research with broad specialty coverage, competing for the same author pool as Cureus.
Emerging players
- F1000Research: F1000Research uses a post-publication peer review model with a fully open publishing option, overlapping with Cureus's open access and post-publication assessment (SIQ) philosophy.
- JMIR Publications: JMIR is an open access publisher with a strong digital health and medical research portfolio, overlapping with Cureus's clinical and technology-focused medical audience.
Broad incumbents
- Elsevier (open access medical journals): Elsevier operates a broad portfolio of subscription and open access medical journals through its Lancet and Cell Press imprints, providing large-scale incumbent competition to Cureus in the medical research publishing market.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cureus social profiles
Digital presenceCureus financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cureus leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Cureus funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cureus M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cureus
What does Cureus do?
Cureus operates an online peer-reviewed open access medical journal platform (Cureus Journal of Medical Science) where medical researchers can submit and publish articles across 60+ specialties with a median time to publish of 29 days. The platform charges approximately $385 for a Preferred Editing service (or publishes qualifying submissions for free), distributes all content under CC-BY 4.0 Gold Open Access, and employs a proprietary SIQ post-publication rating system alongside an automated single-blind peer review process.
Is Cureus a public or private company?
Cureus is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Cureus founded?
Cureus was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Cureus based?
Cureus is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cureus make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Author Publication Fees (Preferred Editing) is the primary driver. The others are advertising & Sponsorship.
Who are Cureus's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are PLOS (Public Library of Science), BioMed Central (BMC), Frontiers Media, MDPI, Dove Medical Press, PeerJ and BMJ Open. Emerging players are F1000Research and JMIR Publications. Elsevier (open access medical journals) is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Cureus have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cureus.
What industry is Cureus in?
Cureus's product category is Academic Medical Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAGAFAB, Medical, Clinical & Biomedical Scholarly Publishing, with a secondary code of EDAGAGAA, Medical & Clinical Reference (Physicians, Nursing, Allied Health). Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.