Before submitting an article to a journal, it is not enough simply to see an indexing label on its website. A publication’s status in Web of Science (WoS) may change, and the information may not always be updated in a timely manner. Researchers need to know exactly where to check a journal’s status and what information to pay attention to. In our material, we will examine how to correctly check a journal’s current indexing status in Web of Science and avoid mistakes.
Where should you check a journal in Web of Science?
For verification, use the Master Journal List – Clarivate’s official list of publications. It allows you to find a specific journal and check whether it is included in the Web of Science Core Collection, as well as obtain information about its indexing. Clarivate regularly updates data on journal coverage and publishes changes in the Master Journal List. An archive of monthly changes to the database is also available on the page.
How can you find a journal in the Master Journal List?
The most reliable way is to search for a publication by its ISSN or eISSN, as journal titles may be similar or may change. You can also search by the journal’s full title or by words from its title. Clarivate allows you to find a specific publication by title, words from the title, or ISSN.
To carry out the check, you need to:
- open the Master Journal List
- enter the journal title or its ISSN
- find the required publication among the results
- open the journal profile
- check the information about its indexing in Web of Science
Before drawing a conclusion, make sure that the ISSN, journal title and publisher match the information on the publication’s official website.
What should you check in the journal profile?
The presence of a journal in the search results does not yet mean that the verification has been successful. You should carefully review the information about its coverage in Web of Science.
You should pay attention to the following aspects:
- Web of Science Core Collection – whether the journal is included in the main collection
- journal index – for example, SCIE, SSCI, AHCI or ESCI
- ISSN and eISSN – they must correspond to the journal to which you plan to submit your article
- title and publisher – this will help avoid confusion with journals that have similar titles
- indications regarding the journal’s current status, if any
The Web of Science Core Collection includes several indexes, so in some cases, to meet academic requirements, it is important not simply to confirm the journal’s presence in Web of Science, but also to check which specific index it belongs to. Read more about WoS indexes in our article.
What does On Hold status mean?
When checking a journal in the Master Journal List, you may encounter the On Hold label. It means that Clarivate is conducting a re-evaluation of the journal due to concerns regarding the quality of published content.
While a journal has On Hold status, new content is not indexed. After the review is completed, the journal may remain in Web of Science or be removed from the database. If it successfully passes re-evaluation, the missing content may be indexed. Therefore, submitting an article to a journal with On Hold status should only be considered after a careful assessment of the possible risks.
How can you find out whether a journal has recently been removed from WoS?
If a journal no longer meets Clarivate’s criteria, it may be removed from Web of Science Core Collection coverage. In this case, it is removed from the current Master Journal List, and information about its removal appears in the monthly changes file as Editorial De-listing.
Therefore, if a journal was definitely indexed previously but you can no longer find it in the Master Journal List, you should additionally check the Monthly Changes Archive.
These aspects are important if information about indexing is still indicated:
- on the journal’s website
- on the publisher’s page
- in promotional materials
- on third-party websites containing journal directories
Such sources do not replace verification through Clarivate’s official resource.
When should you check a journal’s status?
It is advisable to conduct the check immediately before submitting the manuscript, even if the journal has already been analysed previously. A publication’s status may change because Clarivate continues to evaluate journals after their inclusion in the Web of Science Core Collection. The platform provides for continuous monitoring and re-evaluation of publications.
Therefore, before submitting an article, it is advisable to check the following aspects again:
- presence of the journal in the Master Journal List
- the index in which it is included
- absence of On Hold status
- correspondence of the ISSN and publication title
- current scientometric indicators (if they are important for your goals)
The indexing status should always be checked through the publication’s profile in WoS, as this reduces the likelihood of choosing a risky publication.
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