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United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

Fact Sheet
Response to Inquiries about Journal Selection for Indexing at NLM

Thank you for your interest in having a journal indexed by the National Library of Medicine for Index Medicus®/MEDLINE®. The Library uses an NIH chartered committee, the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC), to review all new biomedical and health journal titles and recommend those to be indexed. The NLM Fact Sheet titled "Journal Selection for Index Medicus/MEDLINE" (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/jsel.html) provides information on the role of the LSTRC and critical factors considered in making the decision to recommend a journal title for indexing. It is intended only as a guide since there is no one set of characteristics that will guarantee selection. The LSTRC considers the quality of the scientific content, including originality, and the importance of the content for the Index Medicus/MEDLINE audiences throughout the world.

The following answers are provided in response to frequently asked questions about the review process:

1) How do I get a print journal title reviewed?

The LSTRC reviews new biomedical and health journal titles published anywhere in the world; however, anyone who would like to expedite the review process, may send a letter requesting that a specific title be considered for indexing, along with the most recent issues* to:

Sheldon Kotzin
Executive Editor, Index Medicus
National Library of Medicine
Building 38A - Room 4N-419
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20894
Phone: (301) 496-6217
email: kotzin@nlm.nih.gov

*If the journal title is published three or more times a year, the LSTRC needs four issues for the review; twice a year or irregularly, three issues; once a year, two issues. Please send one copy of each issue; do not send duplicates, supplements, or issues containing all abstracts. Only published issues (i.e., not "proofs", unbound issues, or photocopies) are accepted for the review process.

It would be especially helpful if, following the receipt of the required number of recent issues, a complementary subscription was received up until the time of the scheduled review. (See Question #7.) This will ensure that the LSTRC reviewers have the most current issues available at the time of the review. (Failure to send in the required number of recent issues in a timely manner may result in the delay of the journal's review or necessitate the use of older issues from NLM's general collection.)

2) How do I get an electronic journal reviewed?

The same review process used for print journals (see Question 1) also applies to electronic journals. Quality, originality, and importance of the scientific content are primary considerations. In addition, electronic journals must contain articles that are citable and indicate how frequently articles will be published online. Once an electronic journal has been accessible for at least six months, an editor or publisher may request that the journal be reviewed for possible indexing if at least 20 articles have been published and made available online.

Before NLM can begin indexing your electronic-only journal in MEDLINE, we must be satisfied that you will submit all articles published in a digital archive. We seek to ensure that our users will always have access to the full text of every article that we cite. The permanent archive must be PubMed Central or another site that is acceptable to NLM. If it is not, we will delay indexing until an acceptable arrangement has been identified.

3) Is there any specific information I should include in the letter?

The letter should include any information you think would be of interest to the LSTRC when considering the journal. This could include information about its aims or purpose, the composition and role of the editorial board, the need for this new publication, the relation of the contents of this journal to those of similar journals currently being published, the journal's target audience(s), the method by which manuscripts are selected for publication/peer review process, kinds of papers published, the importance of this journal to health professionals throughout the world, etc. (Detailed information about the peer review process would be especially helpful to the Committee members.) Answering these types of questions in one or two letters is more useful than several letters simply expressing support for the journal.

Curriculum vitae and biographical sketches should not be sent. Do not send letters to LSTRC members.

4) How often does LSTRC meet? How many titles are examined?

The LSTRC meets three times a year. Meetings are held in the fall, winter and late spring. About 140 titles, including new titles and re-reviews, are examined at each meeting.

5) Will the journal be reviewed by a subject or language specialist?

The LSTRC consists of fifteen members serving four-year terms, so it is not possible to have a subject specialist on the Committee for all fields. Every effort is made to assign journals to primary reviewers on the Committee who are knowledgeable about the subject and/or fluent in the language. Sometimes outside expertise is sought as input to the Committee.

6) When will a journal be scheduled for review?

After a letter requesting a review is received, a written response is prepared indicating if the title is in scope, i.e., contains subject material appropriate for Index Medicus/MEDLINE. If the title is in scope, the journal is scheduled for review at the earliest possible date. Requestors are not informed of the specific date of the review because of the large number of titles to be reviewed and the possibility of changes to the schedule.

NLM reviews many new titles in the biomedical and life sciences. Titles will not be scheduled for LSTRC review unless requested or acknowledged by the editor or publisher. While there is no specific cut-off date for submission of titles for LSTRC review, journal review lists are usually finalized about two months prior to each scheduled LSTRC meeting.

7) Once the review has been completed, how are the results communicated?

Several weeks after the meeting, notifications are sent to editors/publishers for all titles selected for indexing as well as non-selected titles that had been requested by editors/publishers. As soon as the notification letter is received by editors/publishers, all mailings of review issues/complimentary subscriptions to NLM should promptly be discontinued.

8) What percentage of titles are selected for indexing?

Overall, about 25% - 30% of the titles reviewed are selected for indexing.

9) If the journal is not selected, what can be done?

The LSTRC does conduct re-examinations of journals upon request. A title is eligible for a re-review after a minimum of two to four years following the first review. The eligibility (waiting) period depends upon the rating score assigned to the title during the review.

Scores range from 0 to 5. Currently, a title must receive a score of 4.0 or greater to be selected for indexing. Titles receiving scores between 2.0 and 3.99 may be re-examined after a minimum of two years following the first review; those with lower scores, after four years. After the second and subsequent reviews, the eligibility period is four years, regardless of the score. If a title requested for reconsideration was previously deselected from Index Medicus/MEDLINE, it will be re-examined after a minimum of four years following the date of deselection regardless of the title's prior review history/rating scores. These intervals allow editors and publishers time to make and implement improvements to their journal and guarantees that the majority of the LSTRC membership will have changed by the time of the next review, thus ensuring a fresh examination.

10) If a journal title is selected, when will indexing begin?

If a journal is in its third volume or less when selected, the Library will index the articles in volumes one through three. If in its fourth year or more, indexing will begin with the current year. (Articles in earlier volumes will not be retrospectively indexed.) The acceptance letter will contain this information as well as information on sending issues to be indexed to the NLM.

11) What is a comprehensive subject review?

In addition to reviewing new journal titles, the LSTRC systematically reviews the indexing coverage of two to four subjects each year. A subject review is commonly undertaken when that expertise exists on the Committee. In comprehensive subject reviews, a few American professional societies in the field are asked to indicate and rank the journal titles in that specialty that they think are important and useful to specialists in the field. The LSTRC usually recommends continuing to index those highly ranked titles that are currently indexed. LSTRC then individually reviews the highly ranked non-indexed titles for possible addition to Index Medicus/MEDLINE. The Committee also reviews those titles not highly ranked but that are indexed to determine those to be recommended for deselection.

12) How are titles deselected from Index Medicus/MEDLINE?

Titles may be brought to LSTRC for review for possible deselection through a comprehensive subject review, extremely late publication patterns, major changes in the scientific quality or editorial process, etc.

13) What effect does changing the title, publisher, or sponsor have?

A straightforward title change or change in sponsor usually is not brought to the attention of the LSTRC. However, the merger of two journals, one that is indexed and one that is not, usually results in the title being reviewed by the LSTRC. Occasionally, a society changes publisher but does not own the rights to the title. The resulting journal, which has a new title, is brought before the Committee as a new title. It is important in these cases to write a letter asking for the review, explaining the situation, and submitting the required number of issues. Sometimes both the new and the old titles are reviewed at the same LSTRC meeting.

14) How do I learn the steps that need to be taken to ensure that a particular title is indexed?

Usually, neither the staff nor the LSTRC members are in a position to provide guidance about the steps an editor or publisher should take to ensure that a specific title will be indexed in Index Medicus/MEDLINE. The staff can explain the process but has no input into nor influence over the LSTRC recommendation. The Committee does prepare a summary sheet which is available upon request following notification, but this is designed to document the Committee's recommendation and not the improvements that should be made to ensure indexing. It would be difficult to prepare such suggestions since the LSTRC decisions, based on scientific quality and importance, are affected by the number and quality of journals already published in the field.

15) How do I find out what titles are indexed?

It is estimated that there are about 13,000 to 14,000 biomedical titles currently published throughout the world. About 4,700 titles are indexed and included in the MEDLINE database. MEDLINE is the principal online bibliographic citation database of NLM's MEDLARS system and includes all the citations published in Index Medicus plus others that were formerly in specialty databases such as HealthSTAR that have been transferred to MEDLINE. About 3,700 titles are indexed and included in Index Medicus. The "List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus" is published annually and is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/pubcat.html.

16) What is the Difference Between MEDLINE and PubMed®?

MEDLINE is NLM's database of indexed journal citations and abstracts now covering 4,700 journals published in the United State and more than 70 other countries. Available for online searching since 1971, MEDLINE includes references to articles indexed from 1966 to the present. All citations in MEDLINE are assigned MeSH Terms and Publication Types from NLM's controlled vocabulary. MEDLINE citations and abstracts are available as the primary component of NLM's PubMed database, which is searchable via the Internet.

In addition to MEDLINE, PubMed provides access to:

Users can limit their retrieval to MEDLINE citations by clicking on Limits on the PubMed Home Page and selecting MEDLINE from the Subsets pull-down menu. Information on the scope of MEDLINE and the journal selection process can be found at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/difference/scope_jnl_sel.html. Citations prior to the mid-1960s are located in the OLDMEDLINE subset of PubMed.

17) What is NLM's policy on indexing supplements to IM journals?

NLM will index supplements to journals if the supplements contain indexable articles, come as part of the journal subscription, and retain the title and volume numbering of the journal. If there is a variation in the title or numbering, the supplement is considered as a separate journal title.

18) What is NLM's policy on determining title abbreviations?

Detailed information on how NLM constructs journal title abbreviations can be found at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/constructitle.html

19) What is XML Tagged Data?

XML (Extensible Markup Language) prescribes a standard format for embedding descriptive information and forces each element to fit into a logical, predictable structure. NLM's required format requires the various pieces of information, such as author, title of article, and date of publication to be enclosed in certain defined tags or delimiters. A description of our required XML format as well as other important information for publishers may be found on NLM's Web site at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query/static/publisher.html.

Citations and abstracts submitted electronically in our required XML format are available to the public via PubMed® almost immediately after its receipt and the records then quickly move into the indexing stream. Thus, the public has access to this information more rapidly than records which are created by traditional means (hand keyboarding and optical scanning). As an added benefit to publishers submitting electronic data, NLM provides links to publisher's Web sites containing the full-text of the journal articles.

If you have additional questions or comments, please contact Mr. Kotzin, (see address above). Please indicate the specific, full title of the journal in question.

20) What is an ISSN?

An ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) is required for each new serial title published. If an online version is also published, two separate ISSN are required. (Thus, two applications for an ISSN--one for the print version and one for the online version--are required.)

Process for applying for an ISSN:

For serials published in the United States, an ISSN must be obtained from the ISSN Center at the Library of Congress. All the application information is available at their website: http://www.loc.gov/issn. To ensure receipt of an application, it is recommended that the application(s) be faxed or sent via e-mail. It takes about 6-8 weeks to obtain a new ISSN. Applications should not be sent to NLM; the Library plays no role in the assignment of ISSN’s.

The ISSN Center at the Library of Congress processes requests for ISSN only for U.S. titles. For non-U.S. titles, the best place to access the relevant information is at the ISSN International Centre in Paris, France. Publishers can consult their web site at: http://www.issn.org:8080/English/pub/ to identify the correct ISSN Center for their country. (Instructions are available in both English and French.) Further instructions for applying for an ISSN are available at each ISSN Center's web site. ISSN assignments for countries in which there is no ISSN Center is handled by the ISSN International Centre in Paris.

A complete list of NLM Fact Sheets is available at:
(alphabetical list) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsheets.html
(subject list): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/factsubj.html

Or write to:

FACT SHEETS
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20894

Phone: (301) 496-6308
Fax: (301) 496-4450
email: publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov

Last updated: 06 May 2004
First published: 01 January 1990
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