Ensuring the visibility and impact of academic research: A call to verify the indexing status of journals

Dear Editor,

In the contemporary academic landscape, the visibility, credibility and impact of scholarly research are strongly influenced by the indexing status of the journals in which it is published. Indexing in reputed bibliographic databases such as MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is widely regarded as an essential indicator of a journal’s quality, legitimacy and international reach. Research published in indexed journals is more easily discoverable, accessible to a wider audience and more likely to be cited, thereby enhancing both institutional research output and individual academic recognition.

In the field of homoeopathic education, ensuring quality and maintaining academic standards has become increasingly important. The Minimum Essential Standards for Homoeopathic Colleges and Hospitals, notified by the National Commission for Homoeopathy, provide structured guidelines for faculty appointments and promotions across various cadres.^[1] In addition, the Assessment and Rating of Medical Institutions regulations introduced by the National Board for Accreditation of Education and Training (NABET) place significant emphasis on research output and its impact.^[2] These regulations clearly specify the acceptable indexing agencies for awarding scores to research publications, as outlined in Table 1.

Despite the availability of such guidelines, it is commonly observed that homoeopathy faculty members and postgraduate students publish their research in predatory or non-indexed journals. Many journals make misleading claims about being indexed in reputed databases. Therefore, it is essential for authors to independently verify a journal’s indexing status before submitting their manuscripts. Failure to do so may result in loss of academic credit, poor visibility of research and non-recognition during assessments and promotions.

This letter aims to outline simple and practical methods for verifying a journal’s indexing status in databases recommended by the Quality Council of India, in accordance with NABET Criterion 7 – Research Output and Impact.^[3] Awareness of these verification procedures can help researchers make informed publication decisions and protect them from predatory publishing practices.