What Web of Science Indexing Means for a Journal
Web of Science is Clarivate's citation database, and its Web of Science Core Collection is the set of indexes that most universities, funders and ranking agencies mean when they ask whether a journal is "WoS indexed". For editors wondering how to get a journal indexed in Web of Science, the key facts are simple to state and hard to shortcut: Clarivate's own editors evaluate each journal against 28 published criteria, only the publisher can submit, and every new journal that succeeds enters through the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI).
Coverage matters because Web of Science links citations across journals with great care, and because it feeds Journal Citation Reports (JCR), the source of the official Journal Impact Factor. A journal cannot have a genuine Clarivate Impact Factor without first being covered in the Core Collection. Any "impact factor" from another source is a different metric, however it is labelled.
Clarivate describes its process as objective, consistent and transparent. The criteria are public, the stages are fixed, and decisions go to the publisher. What the process does not offer is speed on request, paid priority or guaranteed outcomes.
Web of Science asks two questions in order: is this journal run with rigour, and does the research community rely on it? Entry depends only on the first.
The Web of Science Core Collection: ESCI vs SCIE, SSCI and AHCI
The Core Collection contains several journal indexes. Three are discipline-based flagship indexes, and one is multidisciplinary and quality-based. Understanding the difference stops a lot of confusion about what "getting into Web of Science" actually means for a young journal.
| Index | Coverage | How a journal gets there |
|---|---|---|
| Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) | All disciplines | Passes the 24 quality criteria |
| Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) | Sciences, engineering, medicine | Passes the 24 quality criteria and the 4 impact criteria |
| Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) | Social sciences | Passes the 24 quality criteria and the 4 impact criteria |
| Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) | Arts and humanities | Passes the 24 quality criteria and the 4 impact criteria |
Clarivate evaluates all new submissions against the 24 quality criteria only. If selected, the journal is added to ESCI. Impact is not assessed at entry. Later, when a journal's citation activity suggests it may qualify, Clarivate's editors can evaluate it against the impact criteria and, if it succeeds, move it into SCIE, SSCI or AHCI. A multidisciplinary journal is no disadvantage at the ESCI stage, since ESCI itself spans all fields. For how these indexes relate to JCR quartiles, read our guide to Web of Science and quartile journals, and check any title on Clarivate's Master Journal List.
ESCI
Proof of editorial rigour. The realistic first target for any journal applying to Web of Science.
SCIE / SSCI / AHCI
Proof of influence in the field, judged from citations to the journal, its authors and its editors.
Clarivate's Journal Evaluation Process: Four Stages
Clarivate's editors run each submission through stages in a fixed order. A journal must pass one stage to reach the next, and each stage has its own consequence if the journal fails it.
Stage 1: Initial triage
Initial triage confirms that the journal can be identified and contacted. Clarivate checks seven items: ISSN, journal title, journal publisher, journal URL, content access, presence of a peer review policy, and contact details. The Publisher Portal's submission form gives immediate feedback on these points, and there is no embargo if a journal does not pass, so problems can be fixed and the journal resubmitted.
Stage 2: Editorial triage
Editorial triage decides whether a full evaluation is worthwhile. Its nine criteria are scholarly content, article titles and abstracts in English, bibliographic information in Roman script, clarity of language, timeliness and/or publication volume, website functionality and journal format, presence of ethics statements, editorial affiliation details, and author affiliation details. A journal that fails editorial triage in its first evaluation faces no embargo; a second consecutive failure brings a one-year embargo.
Stage 3: Editorial evaluation for quality
This is where an editor looks closely at whether the journal's title, scope, board, authors and content fit together. The eight criteria are editorial board composition, validity of statements, peer review, content relevance, grant support details, adherence to community standards, author distribution, and appropriate citations to the literature. Passing all 24 quality criteria leads to ESCI. Failing this stage brings an embargo of at least two years before resubmission.
Stage 4: Editorial evaluation for impact
The impact criteria use citation activity to identify the most influential journals in a field: comparative citation analysis, author citation analysis, editorial board citation analysis, and content significance. They are applied to journals already in ESCI when Clarivate re-evaluates them for SCIE, SSCI or AHCI. A journal that is evaluated for impact and not moved stays in ESCI, and a further impact evaluation is subject to an embargo of at least two years.
Web of Science Selection Criteria: What the Quality Checks Look For
The criteria names are short, so it helps to translate them into what an editor actually inspects on your website and in your articles.
| Criterion | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Content access | Clarivate's editors can read the full text, either openly or through access you provide |
| Timeliness and/or publication volume | Issues appear on the stated schedule; the volume of articles is consistent with the field |
| Website functionality / journal format | A stable, professional site where each article is easy to find and read |
| Validity of statements | Everything the website claims (indexing, metrics, affiliations, review model) is true and verifiable |
| Editorial board composition | Board members are identifiable experts whose expertise and spread match the journal's scope |
| Peer review | Published articles show evidence of real review consistent with the stated policy |
| Content relevance | Articles fit the journal title and scope |
| Grant support details | Funding is acknowledged in articles where it applies |
| Adherence to community standards | The journal follows recognised publication ethics guidance in its field |
| Author distribution | The spread of authors is consistent with the journal's stated scope and audience |
| Appropriate citations to the literature | Reference lists are relevant and not inflated with journal or author self-citation |
Validity of statements deserves special attention
Many journals fail not because their research is weak but because their website says things that are not true or not checkable: an index the journal is not in, a metric from an unknown service presented as an impact factor, or an editor listed without consent. To a Clarivate editor these are signs of poor governance. Audit every claim on your site and remove or correct anything you cannot prove. If you show any calculated metric, label exactly who calculated it and state plainly that it is not a Clarivate Journal Impact Factor.
Consistency between title, scope and content
Clarivate describes the quality stage as checking alignment between the journal title, scope, editorial board, authorship and published content. A journal named for one discipline that publishes widely outside it, or a "global" journal whose authors and editors all come from one institution, shows misalignment. A multidisciplinary journal should say so clearly in its title and scope and show that it handles each field with suitable editors and reviewers.
How to Get a Journal Indexed in Web of Science: The Submission Process
Only publishers can submit journals for Web of Science evaluation. Editors and third parties cannot, and Clarivate's guidance tells editors to contact their publisher. All submissions go through the Web of Science Publisher Portal, where the publisher creates an account, completes the journal submission form and tracks progress.
- Check coverageSearch the Master Journal List to confirm the title is not already covered.
- Publisher accountThe publisher registers on the Web of Science Publisher Portal.
- Submission formEnter journal details; the form checks initial triage criteria immediately.
- EvaluationClarivate editors run editorial triage and the quality evaluation.
- DecisionOutcome is communicated to the publisher via the portal.
What to prepare before submitting
- Journal title, ISSN and publisher name exactly as in the ISSN record
- A stable journal URL with an English-language home page
- Arrangements for Clarivate editors to access full text if it is not open
- Published peer review policy and ethics statements
- Editorial board with affiliations and countries
- Author affiliation details on every article
- A complete, regularly updated archive with English titles and abstracts
- A named editorial contact who will receive evaluation emails
The portal dashboard shows each submission's status, such as pending, under evaluation, accepted or rejected, and the publisher is notified when a decision is made. All formal communication about decisions, including re-evaluation outcomes, goes to the publisher, so keep the contact details current.
How Long Does Web of Science Indexing Take?
Clarivate does not publish a fixed evaluation time, and its workload varies. It has said that its editorial team focuses on new evaluations in the first half of the year and on re-evaluations in the second half. Editors who have been through the process commonly report waits of several months to a year or more, so plan on a long horizon and do not make promises to authors based on an expected date.
- Years 0–2 (typical)
Build a record: ISSN, punctual issues, DOIs, international board, ethics and review policies, complete metadata.
- Before submission
Self-audit against all 24 quality criteria and fix any statement you cannot verify.
- Submission day
Publisher submits via the Publisher Portal and receives initial triage feedback.
- Months that follow
Editorial triage and quality evaluation; respond quickly to any request.
- If accepted into ESCI
Indexing of content begins; citations start to be counted in the Core Collection.
- Later JCR release
An eligible journal receives a Journal Impact Factor in the June JCR after the conditions below are met.
How the Journal Impact Factor Follows Web of Science Coverage
The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is published once a year in Journal Citation Reports. Since the 2023 release, Clarivate has extended the JIF to all Web of Science Core Collection journals that meet its eligibility conditions, including ESCI and AHCI titles, and it now displays the JIF to one decimal place. In the 2026 release on 17 June 2026, covering 2025 data, Clarivate reported metrics for 22,643 journals across 254 categories, with 521 journals receiving a JIF for the first time.
How the JIF is calculated
For a given JCR year, the JIF is the number of citations received in that year by items the journal published in the two previous years, divided by the number of citable items (articles and reviews) published in those two years. Because the numerator uses citations counted in Web of Science, the journal must be covered for its citations to be captured reliably.
| Milestone | Illustrative date |
|---|---|
| Journal accepted into ESCI | Before 1 January of the coverage year |
| Still covered when JCR production begins | March of the following year |
| Appears in Journal Citation Reports | June release, subject to having enough indexed content and citable items |
Clarivate's guidance states that, to be included in a given JCR release, a journal must be accepted into a collection before 1 January and remain covered when JCR production starts in March, after which it appears in the June release. A journal must also have enough indexed content for the calculation, which is why many newly covered journals see their first JIF a year or more after acceptance. JCR also publishes the Journal Citation Indicator (JCI), a field-normalised measure based on a three-year window, and ranks journals into quartiles within each category.
An official Impact Factor is a consequence of Web of Science coverage, never a step you can take before it.
This is also why journals should describe any other metric carefully. For example, JMVRA's 11.25 is a calculated metric based on citations from Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar. It is not an official Clarivate Journal Impact Factor (JCR). Clear labelling of this kind supports the "validity of statements" criterion rather than undermining it.
Common Reasons Journals Are Rejected by Web of Science
Clarivate does not publish a ranked list of rejection reasons, but the criteria make the weak points predictable. These are the problems editors most often need to fix.
Unverifiable claims
Indexing logos, metrics or approvals that cannot be confirmed, failing validity of statements.
Thin or invisible peer review
A policy that exists on paper but articles that show no sign of meaningful review or revision.
Scope drift
Papers far outside the journal's title and stated scope, or a scope too vague to judge.
Board mismatch
Editors whose expertise or affiliations do not fit the scope, or who cannot be identified.
Irregular publishing
Late issues, gaps or sudden surges in volume that suggest weak editorial control.
Citation problems
Irrelevant references or heavy journal self-citation, failing appropriate citations to the literature.
Do
- Show received, revised and accepted dates on each article
- Keep reference lists relevant and screen for citation manipulation
- Acknowledge funding sources in articles
- Follow recognised publication ethics guidance and say which
- Check every manuscript for similarity before review
Avoid
- Displaying "impact factors" from unrecognised services as if they were JCR values
- Claiming Web of Science coverage because a paper was cited in it
- Accepting papers within days to fill an issue
- Asking authors to cite the journal
- Listing editors without their written consent
After Coverage: Re-evaluation, On-Hold Status and Removal
Coverage in Web of Science is reviewed continuously. Clarivate re-evaluates journals when concerns are raised or when its monitoring detects problems, and it has removed journals that no longer meet the quality criteria, including cases linked to integrity concerns such as manipulated citations or papers from paper mills. During a re-evaluation, a journal's new content can be put on hold until a decision is made.
| Outcome | Embargo before the next evaluation |
|---|---|
| Fails initial triage | None; fix and resubmit |
| Fails editorial triage (first time) | None |
| Fails editorial triage (second consecutive time) | One year |
| Fails editorial evaluation for quality | At least two years |
| Not moved after an impact evaluation | At least two years before re-evaluation for impact |
| Removed from coverage | At least two years after the removal decision is communicated |
Clarivate's published editorial policies also describe an appeals route and category change requests. Read them before relying on an appeal; as with other databases, an appeal is for errors, not for disagreement with an editorial judgement.
How Journey and Wisdom Supports Web of Science Readiness
Only Clarivate's editors decide coverage, and no service can promise it. The work that improves your chances is daily editorial practice, and that is where well-chosen tools help. Four Journey & Wisdom offerings fit the Web of Science criteria closely.
JWJMS
Journal management with an online submission portal, author dashboard, desk screening, reviewer invitations and reminders, revision rounds, decisions, issue building and scheduling, and a full record of each step.
JWDOI
Registers Crossref DOIs and deposits article metadata, providing a sponsored DOI prefix without direct Crossref membership.
JWSCAN
Pre-submission similarity checking with iThenticate (by Turnitin), showing an overall similarity index and a source-by-source report.
Scholar RPN
A researcher-centred network that connects an author's publications, profile and citations.
A documented workflow supports the peer review and timeliness criteria because it records each review round and lets you schedule issues in advance. Crossref DOIs with full metadata make articles easier to cite and to trace, which matters later for the impact criteria. Similarity screening supports adherence to community standards. For anything beyond these listed capabilities, contact the team to discuss your requirement at [email protected] or on WhatsApp +91 91063 65667.
Conclusion: Getting Indexed in Web of Science Step by Step
Getting a journal indexed in Web of Science is a sequence, not a single application. First make the journal pass every one of the 24 quality criteria on its own website and in its own articles. Then let the publisher submit through the Publisher Portal, accept that the realistic first destination is ESCI, and keep publishing well while citations accumulate. The Journal Impact Factor and any later move into SCIE, SSCI or AHCI follow from that record; they cannot be obtained ahead of it.
- Identity, access and contact details correct for initial triage
- English titles and abstracts, Roman-script references, ethics statements
- Board, authors and content aligned with title and scope
- Every website claim true and verifiable
- Punctual issues, real peer review, relevant citations
- Publisher submission only, then patience
How Journey & Wisdom Helps
JMVRA is published within the Journey & Wisdom group, which runs four shared services — similarity checking, journal management, DOI registration and conference management — and thirteen publication platforms. These are the ones that matter most for this guide. For anything not listed here, email [email protected] or message WhatsApp +91 91063 65667 to discuss your requirement.
JWJMS
Journal management systemRuns the editorial workflow: online submission portal, author dashboard, desk screening, reviewer invitations and reminders, revision rounds, decisions, issue building and publication scheduling — with a full record of every step.
jwjms.org
JWDOI
Crossref DOI registrationRegisters Crossref DOIs and deposits article metadata, and gives journals a sponsored DOI prefix without joining Crossref directly — for journals, books, chapters and proceedings.
jwdoi.org
JWSCAN
Plagiarism & similarity checkChecks a manuscript for similarity before submission with iThenticate (by Turnitin) and returns an overall similarity index with a source-by-source report editors can act on.
jwscan.org
Scholar Research Publication Network
Scholar networkA researcher-centred network connecting an author's publications, profile and citations.
scholarrpn.orgSee every Journey & Wisdom product and platform · JW ecosystem map
How to get a journal indexed in Web of Science: step by step
Check the Master Journal List
Confirm the journal is not already covered and note the indexes relevant to your field.
Fix identity details
Make the title, ISSN, publisher, URL and contact details consistent everywhere, matching the ISSN record.
Publish policies
Put the peer review policy and ethics statements on clearly linked pages.
Prepare international metadata
Provide English titles and abstracts, Roman-script references, and author and editor affiliations on every article.
Publish on schedule
Release issues on time with consistent volume for at least two years before applying.
Align board, scope and content
Recruit identifiable experts across the scope and reject papers outside it.
Audit every claim
Remove unverifiable indexing logos and label any non-Clarivate metric clearly.
Strengthen citations and integrity
Register DOIs, keep references relevant, and screen manuscripts for similarity.
Submit through the Publisher Portal
The publisher completes the submission form and resolves any initial triage feedback.
Track and respond
Monitor the portal dashboard and answer Clarivate's requests quickly.
Plan for ESCI and JCR
After acceptance, keep quality steady; an eligible journal can receive its first Impact Factor in a later June release.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get my journal indexed in Web of Science?
Make sure the journal meets Clarivate's 24 quality criteria, then ask the publisher to submit it through the Web of Science Publisher Portal. Clarivate's editors run initial triage, editorial triage and a quality evaluation. Journals that pass are added to the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). Editors and third parties cannot submit directly.
What are the Web of Science selection criteria?
Clarivate uses 28 criteria: 24 quality criteria spread across initial triage, editorial triage and editorial evaluation, and 4 impact criteria. Quality criteria cover identity, access, language, ethics, board composition, peer review, content relevance and citations. Impact criteria analyse citations to the journal, its authors and its editors, plus content significance.
What is the difference between ESCI and SCIE?
ESCI covers journals in all fields that pass the 24 quality criteria. SCIE covers sciences journals that pass both the quality criteria and the 4 impact criteria; SSCI and AHCI do the same for social sciences and arts and humanities. New journals enter ESCI and may later be moved up after an impact evaluation.
How long does Web of Science indexing take?
Clarivate does not publish a fixed time. It focuses on new evaluations in the first half of each year and on re-evaluations in the second half. Journals commonly report waits of several months to a year or more, so prepare thoroughly and avoid promising authors a date.
Who can submit a journal to Web of Science?
Only the journal's publisher, through the Web of Science Publisher Portal. Clarivate's policy excludes submissions by journal editors or third parties, and it tells editors to contact their publisher. All evaluation decisions are communicated to the publisher, so the publisher account and the named editorial contact should both be kept up to date.
Do ESCI journals get an Impact Factor?
Yes. Since the 2023 Journal Citation Reports release, Clarivate gives a Journal Impact Factor to all Web of Science Core Collection journals that meet its eligibility conditions, including ESCI and AHCI titles. The JIF is shown to one decimal place.
How does a journal get an official Clarivate Impact Factor?
It must first be covered in the Web of Science Core Collection. A journal accepted before 1 January and still covered when JCR production starts in March can appear in that year's June release, provided it has enough indexed content and citable items for the two-year calculation.
What happens if my journal is rejected by Web of Science?
It depends on the stage. Failing initial triage or a first editorial triage has no embargo. A second consecutive editorial triage failure brings a one-year embargo. Failing the editorial quality evaluation brings an embargo of at least two years before you can resubmit.
Can a new journal apply to Web of Science?
A publisher can submit at any time, but editors judge timeliness, volume, board, authorship and citations from published content. A journal with only a few issues has little to show, so most journals wait for at least two years of punctual publishing before applying to avoid a two-year embargo.
How can I check if a journal is indexed in Web of Science?
Search the title or ISSN in Clarivate's Master Journal List, which shows the current Core Collection indexes for covered journals. Then confirm the publisher and website match the journal you are dealing with, because some sites copy the names of covered journals.
Why do journals get removed from Web of Science?
Clarivate removes journals that no longer meet its quality criteria, often after re-evaluation triggered by concerns such as citation manipulation, paper mill content, scope drift or weak peer review. New content may be put on hold during re-evaluation, and a removed journal faces at least two years before it can be evaluated again.
Is there a fee to get indexed in Web of Science?
The official route is a publisher submission through Clarivate's Publisher Portal, evaluated by Clarivate's in-house editors against published criteria. Clarivate's selection pages describe no paid fast track, and no outside agent can buy or speed up a decision. Treat any offer of guaranteed indexing as a warning sign.
Does JMVRA have a Web of Science Impact Factor?
No claim of Web of Science coverage is made for JMVRA, TIJER or JNRID. JMVRA's 11.25 is a calculated metric based on citations from Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar. It is not an official Clarivate Journal Impact Factor (JCR). JMVRA's verified indexing and discovery links are listed on its indexing page.
What is the Journal Citation Indicator?
The Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) is a Clarivate metric in Journal Citation Reports that normalises citation impact by field, using publications from a three-year window. It lets journals in different subjects be compared more fairly, and JCR uses it alongside the JIF in its rankings.
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