Q: Are new journals worth publishing in since they are not ISI or Scopus indexed?
Some universities focus their KPIs on only publishing in Scopus and/or ISI indexed journals. New journals are obviously without Scopus or ISI indexing. How can we know or determine whether a particularly new journal is worth publishing in (because its en route to receiving such indexing)? And on a different note, how important are these indexing towards an academic's career? Thank you in advance for your advice!
I understand your apprehension about submitting to a new journal. It is very important to carefully check all the details about a new journal to ensure it is not a predatory one. For this, you can go through Cabell’s blacklist and whitelist of journals if your institution has access to it (since it’s a pay-to-view service).
Once you have done this, you should identify journals that are indexed in some sort of database like Scopus, Pubmed, Index Corpernicus, Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), etc. Usually, a lot of new journals are listed in the ESCI which is a new database by Clarivate Analytics. These indexations can help you identify journals with wider reach and citations. If a journal is not indexed in any database, then it should at least be published by a reputed publisher to ensure authenticity and ethical standards of the journal. You also use the Think.Check.Submit checklist to ensure that your target journal is a reliable one.
Indexed journals basically provide a wider reach to your publication and therefore can affect the citation of your research. This, in turn, impacts your visibility and the significance of your study. Publishing in indexed journals can be helpful for your career progression.
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This content belongs to the Journal Selection Stage