Journal indexing: DOAJ, Scopus, Web of Science and the rest
What each database asks of a journal before it lists it, in what order to apply, and how the applications are filed. The directory below lists 153 databases, each with its own criteria and its own fee, read from the database's own pages.
The directory
153 databases, in the order a journal should take them: what each asks for, what it costs, how long it takes.
Readiness audit, first one free
121 criteria read off the journal's own pages — the same things DOAJ, Scopus and Web of Science read — with the fix list.
Applications filed and tracked
Each application prepared from the journal's record, filed, and followed until the database answers — one tracker for all of them.
Questions people ask
In what order should a new journal apply?
Foundation first: an ISSN from the national centre, a DOI for every article, Google Scholar meta tags on every article page, and a preservation arrangement (PKP PN, CLOCKSS or Portico, or the Internet Archive). Then the open-access directory DOAJ, the subject databases of the field, and the citation indexes last — Scopus and Web of Science ask for a publication history and judge the journal on what the earlier steps made visible.
What does DOAJ ask for?
An open-access journal with an ISSN, a licence stated on every article, an editorial board named with affiliations, a peer-review process described on the site, a named publisher with a verifiable address, and the research articles already published. The application is free; DOAJ's own guide lists every criterion and the application is made on doaj.org.
What does Scopus ask for?
Peer review, English abstracts and titles, references in Roman script, a regular schedule, a publication-ethics statement, and a publication history before the application is considered. Scopus's Content Selection and Advisory Board decides; a journal refused waits before it may apply again, so the application is worth making complete the first time.
What does Web of Science ask for?
Web of Science applies its quality criteria first (an ISSN, a journal title that matches the content, a publisher with an address, an editorial board, peer review, timeliness, website functionality, ethics and so on) and its impact criteria after; a journal that passes the first set enters the Emerging Sources Citation Index. The evaluation is made on the journal's own pages, so what the pages show is what is judged.
What about UGC-CARE?
The UGC closed its CARE list in 2024 and now gives parameters a university should apply to a journal instead of a list. The parameters are the same things the databases above check — peer review, an editorial board, ethics, indexing, DOIs — so a journal built for the databases meets them.
What does GetIndexed do?
It lists every database with what each asks for and what it costs, in the order a journal should take them, checks the journal's own pages against each database's criteria, fills and files the applications, and tracks each one until the database answers. The directory is open to everyone; the applications are the service.
The criteria named here are each database's own, read from its pages; the directory links the page for every one. No database can be bought into, and nobody who says otherwise is telling the truth.
