Keeping Up with Evolving Indexing Standards


For a new academic journal, achieving inclusion in prominent indexing databases such as the Web of Science Core Collection (SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI), Scopus, or DOAJ is a significant milestone that enhances visibility and credibility. Laying the proper groundwork from the outset is crucial for meeting the stringent quality and ethical criteria assessed by these evaluators. Drawing on best practices in scholarly publishing, here are key steps to establish your journal for future indexing success.


Establish a Robust and Transparent Online Presence

A journal's website serves as its public face and is a primary point of evaluation for indexing databases. Ensure your website is professionally supported and maintained, ideally with strong security like HTTPS. It must clearly display essential information about the journal and its policies.

  • Give the journal a unique name that avoids confusion with others and accurately reflects its scope.
  • Clearly state the journal's aims and scope and its target readership. These define the journal's identity and relevance within the academic landscape.
  • Prominently display both print and/or online ISSNs.
  • Provide full contact details for the editorial office, including a mailing address.
  • Clearly indicate the journal's ownership and management.
  • Describe the publishing frequency or schedule and commit to adhering to it. Consistent output of high-quality content is important for new journals.
  • Clearly indicate the journal's plan for electronic backup and long-term digital preservation of content, citing examples like PMC or those listed in the Keepers Registry. This ensures content remains accessible even if the journal ceases publication.
  • If content is not freely accessible, clearly describe the method of gaining access (e.g., subscription, pay-per-view).

Develop and Publish Comprehensive Policies

Transparency regarding editorial and ethical practices is non-negotiable for reputable indexing databases. Your website must show the journal's policies. Adhering to guidance like COPE's Core Practices is essential.

  • Adopt and publish clear policies on publication ethics, visible on the website. These should cover key areas:
    • Authorship and contributorship, including criteria and how contributions are declared. Journals should encourage appropriate attribution.
    • Handling complaints and appeals.
    • Handling allegations of research misconduct, including having mechanisms for receiving and responding to allegations. This involves defining types of misconduct and outlining policies and procedures. Universities may also inform journals of findings related to reliability or attribution.
    • Conflicts of interest.
    • Data sharing and reproducibility, including policies on data availability.
    • Ethical oversight for research, including recommended practices for informed consent, institutional oversight, and prior ethics approval. Journals must review submitted work to ensure conformity with research ethics guidelines.
    • Intellectual property, including clear policies on copyright and licensing (e.g., Creative Commons).
    • Post-publication discussions, corrections, and retractions.

Implement a Robust Peer Review Process

A credible peer review process is a cornerstone of academic publishing quality and a key evaluation criterion. Describe your peer review model transparently on the website.

  • Adopt a peer review process appropriate for your journal and resources.
  • Provide training for editors and reviewers.
  • Have clear policies covering conflicts of interest, appeals, and disputes related to peer review.
  • Ensure the confidentiality of submitted material during the review process.
  • Conduct peer review in a timely fashion.
  • Reviewers should be asked to address ethical aspects of submissions.

Build a Credible Editorial Board

The expertise and standing of the editorial board reflect the journal's quality and relevance.

  • Assemble an editorial board or advisory body composed of recognised experts in the journal's subject areas.
  • List the full names and affiliations of board members on the website, ensuring the list is up to date and members have agreed to serve.
  • Vet new Editorial Board Members before onboarding, using criteria inspired by checks for suspicious affiliations, such as whether the publisher is a member of associations like COPE, OASPA, or STM, or if journals are listed in DOAJ.
  • Inform the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) and Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the journal's goals for indexing. Ask for their help to invite high-quality papers and recommend suitable contributors. Attracting distinguished scholars helps build trust and attract quality content.

Ensure Operational Efficiency and Content Quality

Effective management and quality control throughout the publishing workflow are vital.

  • Establish a well-managed infrastructure for handling submissions.
  • Implement pre-check processes to confirm manuscripts fit the scope, run plagiarism checks, verify copyright permissions, ensure figures/tables are correctly referenced and high quality, and confirm funding information if required.
  • Editorial decisions should be based solely on the paper’s importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s remit.
  • Do not link editorial decisions to internal targets or ask editors to expedite decisions for metric purposes.
  • Regularly monitor publication numbers and processing stages to ensure timely output. Consistent output with high quality is important for new journals.
  • Keep author/journal self-citation rates under 15%.

Meeting Evaluation Criteria

Indexing databases like the Web of Science Core Collection evaluate journals based on both Quality Criteria and Impact Criteria. By focusing on the steps outlined above, you address many of the key Quality Criteria assessed during the initial evaluation stages, such as ISSN, journal title/publisher, URL, access, peer review policy, contact details, scholarly format, clarity of language, timeliness, website functionality, ethics statements, and affiliations. Building a strong foundation based on transparency, ethical practices, and quality control is the most effective way to prepare for future indexing and gain credibility in the academic publishing landscape. Monitoring publishing and field trends can also help the journal remain relevant and competitive. Referencing indexing manuals can provide further guidance.

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