The Challenges of Journal Indexing and the Significance of the Quality Peer Review Process

For any medical society having launched and established its peer-reviewed open-access journal, it is a struggle for initial years before it can gain indexing status, where the authors are eager to submit their articles with the aim for broader dissemination and recognition with well-established indexed journals. The current recognized indexing bibliographic portals include PubMed Central, SCOPUS/EMBASE, Clarivate (Emerging Sources Citation Index/Science Citation Index Expanded), and Medline.

The main question most new medical journals face is how to get high-quality content to publish for the first 2 years. This is the minimum period required before a journal becomes eligible for applying to an indexing portal to be indexed.

Medical journals often strive for inclusion in prestigious indexing portals. These portals have specific selection criteria that journals must meet, such as quality standards, peer-review processes, and editorial policies.

Indexing portals maintain rigorous quality control mechanisms to ensure the accuracy and reliability of indexed content. All journals must have rigorous editorial processes, peer review, and ethical guidelines. Content published by the journal is the king, and everything revolves around the content and quality.

Addressing these problems requires careful attention to quality control, adherence to indexing criteria, efficient publication processes, and leveraging available resources to meet technical requirements. Collaboration with experienced publishers, such as Scientific Scholar in this field, can help navigate the complexities of indexing a medical journal effectively.

Medical publishers in India face several challenges that impact their operations and the dissemination of medical knowledge. Some of the critical problems faced by medical publishers in India include:

1. Lack of standardized guidelines:

There must be standardized guidelines and best practices for medical publishing in India. This can lead to consistency in publishing processes, quality control, peer review, and ethical considerations

2. Predatory publishing practices:

Predatory publishing, where low-quality or fraudulent journals exploit the open-access publishing model, is a concern in India. Researchers and authors may fall victim to deceptive publishers, leading to publication in journals that lack credibility and peer review. This undermines the trustworthiness of Indian medical publishing as a whole

3. Plagiarism and scientific misconduct:

Plagiarism and scientific misconduct pose ethical challenges for medical publishers in India. Ensuring the originality and integrity of published content requires rigorous screening processes, plagiarism detection tools such as iThenticate and an active commitment to promoting ethical research practices. The lack of awareness and enforcement of ethical publishing standards can undermine the credibility of Indian medical literature

4. Limited visibility and impact:

Indian medical journals face challenges in gaining international recognition and achieving high-impact factors. Enhancing the visibility and impact of Indian medical publications requires focused efforts in quality improvement, open access initiatives, and collaborations with international researchers and institutions.

Addressing these challenges requires collective efforts from publishers researchers, institutions, and policymakers such as the National Medical Council of India. Establishing clear guidelines, promoting ethical publishing practices, improving access to research, supporting open-access initiatives, and fostering collaborations can contribute to the growth and improvement of medical publishing in India.

Dr. Sunny Duttagupta
Director Publishing
Scientific Scholar
E-mail: sunny.duttagupta@scientificscholar.com