Indexing for a new journal: Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

At the 2017 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) Congress, with the launch of the first issue of Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis (RPTH),1 we were met with many questions about the new journal. The most commonly asked questions were, “Is it in PubMed?” and “When will it get an Impact Factor?” When considering where to submit their work, authors are understandably anxious to see the journal indexed in the major scientific and scholarly databases.2 In this editorial, we describe the process and timeline for RPTH to appear in PubMed Central (PMC), and be indexed in MEDLINE and the Science Citation Index (Expanded), or SCI (E). The SCI (E) feeds into the Journal Citation Reports for Impact Factors, so it is important to the RPTH editorial team and to authors alike.

We understand that authors want and often need to publish in journals that are available in prominent databases such as PMC, MEDLINE, Web of Science and the SCI (E) (now owned by Clarivate Analytics). For discoverability and author satisfaction, and often to meet the various funder mandates our authors face, pursuing indexing is one of RPTH's most important goals for 2017 and 2018. We plan to apply for full participation in PMC by the end of 2017, and to MEDLINE and Web of Science within the next year.

Each database has different requirements for entry. Below, we clarify the standards and requirements for PMC, MEDLINE, and Web of Science.

STEP 1: FULL PARTICIPATION IN PMC

PMC is a full text archive, rather than an indexing database, and citations for articles deposited in PMC are available on PubMed. In order to deposit all articles in PMC, RPTH must meet scientific quality standards set out by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Library of Medicine for acceptance into PMC. The National Library of Medicine's Library Operations Division will decide whether the scientific and editorial scope and quality of a journal merit its inclusion in PMC. In making this decision, NLM will consider the suitability of the journal for the NLM collection, as well as the opinions of expert consultants.3

The journal must also meet the technical standards of the database by providing high‐quality digital files (full text of articles in XML format). Wiley, our publisher, has considerable experience with this and manages this process on behalf of the journal.

The PMC application requires that a journal publish at least 25 peer‐reviewed research articles. Since we have met this milestone with the current issue, we are pleased to report that our application is in progress. In the meantime, all articles with funding from bodies which mandate deposit in PMC will be sent.

STEP 2: INDEXING IN MEDLINE

MEDLINE is the principal online bibliographic citation database of the National Library of Medicine and provides the largest subset of PubMed articles.

RPTH can apply for MEDLINE inclusion once the journal has been publishing for 12 months and has published at least 40 articles. The evaluation team meets three times a year to consider applications.4 The more content the journal has published, the stronger the application. The journal needs to appear sustainable by publishing quality content at a regular rate.

Other elements considered in this review include scope and coverage of the journal, quality of content and editorial work, production quality, and audience.4

MEDLINE requires that all published articles include declarations of conflict of interest by authors, confirmation that informed consent was sought from research subjects, and that animal welfare was taken into consideration.5

STEP 3: INDEXING IN WEB OF SCIENCE AND JOURNAL CITATION REPORTS

Web of Science strives to index the most relevant and influential research.6 They evaluate submissions to their database on a regular basis to ensure they have the most expansive coverage and highest quality content. When considering a new journal like RPTH (one without much citation history) for indexing, Clarivate Analytics will examine the overall citation record of the journal's contributing authors and editors.2 After RPTH has published a sufficient volume of content to show that we have regular and consistent article flow and high quality standards, RPTH will apply to the Emerging Science Citation Index (ESCI), a pre‐index of the SCI (E) in which journals can be indexed and visible in Web of Science while they are evaluated for full indexing in the SCI (E). We anticipate applying in early 2018, after three issues of the journal have been published. Web of Science evaluations are conducted on an ongoing basis but they tend to take several months, so it may be some time before we are advised of the result. Criteria considered for ESCI and SCI (E) indexing are provided in Table 1.6, 7

Table 1

Criteria considered for inclusion in Web of Science

Emerging Science Citation Index	Science Citation Index (Expanded)
Conduct proper peer‐review	Regular and timely publication
Conform to ethical publishing practices	Editorial board diversity
Be of high interest to the scholarly community (and enrich the Web of Science database)	Subject relevance and strong editorial content
Meet technical and electronic delivery requirements	Citation performance
	Self‐citation count less than 15%

Once RPTH is accepted in the SCI (E), it can start being included in the Journal Citation Reports for an Impact Factor. Three years’ worth of content is required for a journal to receive an Impact Factor, so the earliest date to receive an Impact Factor is summer 2020. All RPTH articles will be included back to the first issue.

FOR NOW

While we are waiting for indexing, what is the RPTH Editorial Board focusing on to measure success?

The first is submissions. The journal reached 100 submissions by the time we published our first issue. We are eagerly tracking submission metrics, trends, and new authors and author groups.

Second, we are applying rigorous peer review to the submissions received. It is too early to determine metrics for acceptance rates, but we will be watching this over time.

Third, we are closely following alternative metrics, like our web site usage and social media attention. All RPTH papers list Altimetric scores, which indicate media and social media attention.8 This dynamic activity around the journal shows a strong and engaged readership. Please follow us on Twitter at @RPTHJournal to become involved.

And finally, we point to the society brand. Speculation and even suspicion about new journals is natural. However, readers and authors should feel confident trusting the ISTH and the resources the society has dedicated to RPTH. Authors can also depend on the impressive and diverse RPTH Editorial Board. The Associate Editors and Editorial Board members are happy to take questions about the journal from prospective authors at any time.

We hope that with all of this in mind, authors will be enthusiastic to submit their work to RPTH, and to join our effort to build a strong journal that the ISTH and the broader scientific community can be proud of.