Sorry for hackiness but here is a solution:
Where res is the plot that you have created, you can post-process the automatic ticks....

Show[res, 
 AbsoluteOptions[res, 
   Ticks] /. {{a_Real, b_String /; b =!= "", c_List} :> {a, 
     ScientificForm[a], c}, x_FormBox :> DisplayForm[x]}]