How to Add a Medical Journal to International Indexing Databases?

Huh, Sun

Abstract

To have the medical journal be indexed in international databases is one of the most important mission of journal editors in Korea since it may influence the survival of the journal. Also, if a society's mission is to develop science and devote to human health, it is editors' obligation to add their journals to the international databases. Thereafter, high quality manuscripts may be submitted to the journal. The major international databases in medical fields are Medline, PubMed, PubMed Central, EMBASE, and CINAHL, meanwhile those in all academic fields are Web of Science, Scopus, and Ebsco. Since the selection criteria are different according to each databases, the optimum method is to edit and publish based on the selection criteria. Common contents of selection criteria are international standard style and format, error-free manuscript editing, readable English, and unique aims and scope.Bibliometric information such as impact factor or total citation can be used for measuring the quality of the journal. Therefore, academic society members should cite their journal papers with relevant content when submitting their manuscript to international journals. Medical journals from Korea is known to be the most rapidly developing ones. It will not be difficult to add their journals to international databases if academic society and editor work together to improve journal quality.