Resources for Editors

Hello Towhidul – Welcome to the forum! It’s great that you are considering getting your journal indexed. You are clearly aiming to increase its reach. The decision to add the online version is sound as well, with the growth of the digital medium and the rise of the open access (OA) movement. While we do not offer indexing services, we can provide a few pointers on how to go about applying for indexing. You need to search for databases that index journals from your field. Based on your search, you may shortlist a few databases. Note that it’s better to have your journal indexed in multiple databases to increase its reach. But we would suggest starting with one, also because you are only now adding the digital version. Additionally, during the evaluation process, the database looks at how effective your various workflows are, and this usually comes from being an established journal with well-implemented workflows. Once you have successfully indexed in one database, you can over time seek indexing with others. As you are going online, you need to decide whether your journal will be OA, paywalled, or hybrid (a mix of the two). This will also determine your choice...

By ‘EI,’ I suppose you mean ‘Engineering Index.’ If so, its actual name is Ei Compendex. It is an engineering literature database made available by Elsevier and accessible through their product Engineering Village, which means that its access is restricted (rather than being open, like some other databases). However, to go through the list of journals indexed on the database, on the Ei Compendex home page, you may download the spreadsheet titled ‘Compendex source list.’ On one of the worksheets within, you’ll find a list of Chinese journals in the database.The steps or criteria for a journal to be considered for indexing in Ei Compendex are provided on the Engineering Village site on this page: Ei Compendex Content Policy and Selection [Here, apart from the criteria, you will also find a checklist to help you in your application process.]To submit an actual application, you need to use the form on this page: Ei Title Suggestion Form [As you are applying for a journal, you need to select the ‘Suggest a Journal’ option on this page, and then proceed through the various steps.]Overall, the process will take between six months and a year. The screening is free of charge, but their...

It’s great that you are considering having your journal indexed. Journal indexing is done to increase the reach, readership, and reputation of a journal, or to put it differently, make it "go more global." While we do not provide journal indexing support, we can offer some pointers here on how to go about having your journal indexed.To begin, you will need to search for databases in a related field (medicine in the case of your journal). Note that different databases provide different kinds of indexing, such as abstracts, keywords, citations, and so on. Once you identify a few relevant databases, you can go through their site for indexing guidelines, and then proceed to apply for indexing. The database will review your application and then decide on it, based on factors such as type of articles published, quality of published articles, submission and publishing procedures, and so on. If needed, they may ask you to make some changes to the workflow. Once satisfied, they will approve your application.Note that the entire process can take considerable effort and time, as it did with the Korean Journal of Internal Medicine (KJIM) when applying to the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) database. Also, note that you...

Different countries have different publication policies. Since you plan to establish a new journal in China, it is best to check with the official publication policy of your country. From what I understand, publication activity in China includes publishing, printing or copying, importing, and issuing publications within China. Publications refer to newspapers, journals, books, video/audio products, digital products etc.According to this policy, if a journal is issued from China, even if it is an English-only journal, the publishers should get both the ISSN and CN number. However, I would suggest that you check the site yourself before you make a decision.You might find the following articles interesting:China is increasingly launching English journals, a report saysIs China becoming the global leader in scientific research and publishing?

It's great that you are thinking of getting your journal indexed in a database. Indexing your journal will increase its visibility and availability for readers across the globe. This will in turn increase the readership and enhance the reputation of your journal.To get your journal indexed in a database, you will first need to choose a suitable database. Here's how you should go about selecting a suitable database for your journal:Find out which databases index journals from your field.Go through the information provided on the webpage of each database about how the database worksUnderstand the features the database provides: some databases only index abstracts, some index keywords, while some others also include citations in their indexing systemOnce you have a clear understanding of how exactly your journal will be visible and accessible to the user, you should be able to figure out which database will work best for your journal.Once you have selected a database, you should find the application procedure on the website itself. You have to submit a formal application and provide relevant supporting documents as explained. Once you submit the application, it will be reviewed by a selection committee. If your journal meets all the required criteria, it will get indexed. If...

You’ve raised a very interesting question! There may not be an immediate and very specific answer to it. Journal indexing is a complex system. If we consider indexing as a means of increasing journal visibility, then, theoretically, the more databases a journal is indexed in the greater is the visibility of the research it publishes. Also, considering the fact that research today is becoming more and more interdisciplinary, getting indexed in multiple databases has greater benefits. Throw in the open access element and things get more dynamic – there are different types and levels of open access, and indexing in the open access and mixed access scenario takes a whole new form. Having said that, it may not be uncommon for publishers to offer an exclusive distribution platform, and this could often be the case with larger publishers that manage a gamut of journals from different fields. However, in some cases, it would be possible for journals to be indexed in more than one database. As for the type of agreement that Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) services use, this could differ between services and it may not be possible to easily access these terms and conditions in detail. Having said...

As a reviewer, you have the right to ask the same questions again if the author has not received and/or addressed your comments in the first round of revisions. However, care should be taken to assess if your comments were overlapping with other reviewers. If so, it becomes important to check if your comments have been addressed in the revision, even if the authors have not provided a point-by-point response to your specific comments. In this case, it would be advisable to ask only those comments that are important and have not yet been addressed. Alternatively, while submitting your peer review, you can communicate to the editor that your comments in the first round of peer review seem not to have been considered. There is a possibility that the editor may have excluded your comments in the first round if they received too many comments from other reviewers too. Therefore, they may have again requested you to do a second round of peer review to comment on the revised manuscript. Related reading:What are the types of peer review?Peer review and editorial decision making at journalsA history of academic peer review

If I understand your question correctly, you are the editor of a journal and have received a critique of a published article in the form of a "Letter to the editor." Your question is whether it is required to inform the author of the published article regarding the critique as you initiate the peer review of the letter to editor.Informing the author of the published article is not essential as you initiate the peer review. Based on the outcome of the peer review, you can contact the author of the published article. The author of the original article may then respond to the critique with a letter of their own.From your question, it is also unclear whether the article which was critiqued was published in your own journal or some other journal. From my experience, usually, a journal publishes critiques or responses to those articles which have been published in their own journals.Related reading:Is it ethical to publish a reply to a "Letter to the Editor" without publishing the original letter?Should letters to the editor be checked for factual accuracy before publication?   

It is great that you wish to launch an academic journal. For this, you need to first identify a specific field and carefully select editorial board members to form a strong and impressive editorial board. You will then need to determine a scope for your journal and come up with the journal's editorial mission in consultation with the editorial board members.Once this is done, you will need to formulate basic rules, author guidelines, decide on the number of issues per year, and either find a publisher or create your own website. Once all this is done, you can launch your journal. On successfully running the journal for some time, you can send in an application to get indexed in ISI or DOAJ. Always be transparent and follow ethical practices as this is the most important step to building a good reputation for your journal.  Here are some resources that you might find helpful: Tips for journal editors transitioning to open access and the role of mega-journals in the publishing landscape Starting an Open Access Journal: a step-by-step guide Deciding to Launch a New Journal Resources for Editors of Scholarly Journals: Launching a Journal Establishing and publishing an online open access...

It is difficult to identify the article type based on the title of a paper. Sometimes, review articles mention the phrase "a systematic review" within the title. However, in this case, there is no clear indication whether this is a systematic review paper or an empirical study (original article). The best way to identify this would be to go through the entire paper. If it is an original research paper, it will follow the IMRaD structure and will include a hypothesis, background study, methods, results, interpretation of findings, and a discussion of possible implications. On the other hand, if it is a systematic review, it will not present original data, but will address the research question by analyzing data from a selection of existing literature.  Here are some posts that will help you understand the characteristics of different article types: What types of articles do journals publish? 6 Article types that journals publish: A guide for early career researchers A young researcher's guide to a systematic review A young researcher's guide to writing an original research article