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© 2022 The Authors. Société Internationale d'Urologie Journal, published by the Société Internationale d'Urologie, Canada.

291SIUJ.ORG SIUJ  •  Volume 3, Number 5  •  September 2022

EDITORIAL

“So, Is Your Journal Listed on PubMed?”
Peter C. Black, Editor-in-Chief

Soc Int Urol J.2021;3(5):291–292

DOI: 10.48083/CRDH3191

The most common question we receive from potential 
readers, reviewers, and authors is: “Is the SIUJ listed 
in PubMed?” The follow-up question is: “What is your 
impact factor?”

Indexing and impact factors have become the 
currency of medical publishing. For authors to get 
academic credit for their work, the publication needs 
to be visible on international platforms like PubMed, 
PubMed Central, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and Web of 
Science. The impact factor provides the quality stamp 
that ensures that the effort is worthwhile. Although 
there are several means to determine the legitimacy 
of a journal, one of the easiest for the reader and the 
researcher is to search for the journal in PubMed. So 
where does that leave fledgling journals that are not yet 
indexed and do not yet have an impact factor?

Indexing is a complicated process. A medical 
journal must apply for indexing and archiving in the 
United States National Library of Medicine (NLM, 
through either MEDLINE or PubMed Central), which 
then makes the journal content identifiable through 
PubMed, the search interface for the NLM[1-3]. Most 
readers would probably be surprised to learn that only 
a small fraction of journals are accepted into the club 
of indexed journals on their first attempt. Most in fact 
have to resubmit their portfolio, and they cannot do this 
for at least 2 years after a failed application. It is critical 
for the publisher to have its proverbial ducks lined up 
and to have robust content before submitting. Criteria 
include number of published articles, scope and rigour 
of scientific content, editorial quality, and production 
quality. The journal must demonstrate that its practices 
adhere to various publication and editorial policies. The 
journal must offer a worthy contribution to the field of 
biomedicine, ideally covering an area of research and/or 
geographic location that is relatively under-represented 
in the scientific literature. Journals must generally have 
at least 2 years of published content before applying 

for indexing, and they must maintain established 
publishing schedules to demonstrate sustainability.

T he i mpac t f ac tor fol low s i nde x i ng more 
automatically. An indexed journal will generate an 
impact factor 2 to 3 years after indexing based on the 
number of citations per published manuscript. The time 
from launching a journal to acquiring an impact factor 
is therefore usually at least 4 to 5 years.

Many urologists and specialists in affiliated fields 
have demonstrated open disdain for unlisted journals, 
along the lines of “I don’t have time for you” and “why 
would I submit to a journal that is not indexed?” These 
comments come from prominent and less prominent 
members of our community, and anywhere along the 
spectrum from early career researchers to the most 
senior researchers. We are all busy and have to pick 
and choose the opportunities to which we can dedicate 
time. Journals like the SIUJ are dependent on a certain 
altruistic desire to give back and support a new concept.

Reviewers will be less deterred by indexing and 
impact factor than authors. Our biggest obstacle with 
peer review is that many potential reviewers do not 
recognize the journal and discount it as yet another 
junk journal asking for something in the daily deluge 
of emails. Time, exposure, and indexing will help us 
overcome this obstacle.

So why invest time in the SIUJ? The health of our 
Journal is contingent on a grassroots effort by those who 
are convinced of the mission of the Journal and want 
to contribute to its growth and future success. We are 
grateful that many members of the SIU are loyal to the 
cause. We are also grateful that many other urologists 
and contributors from around the world recognize 
the value in our intent to provide open access content 
that reflects the global practice of urology at no cost to 
readers or authors—and that they are keen to promote 
this endeavour. We have seen remarkable investment 

http://SIUJ.org
mailto:editorinchief%40siuj.org?subject=SIUJ


292 SIUJ  •  Volume 3, Number 4  •  July 2022 SIUJ.ORG

EDITORIAL

from many individuals and networks. The Australians 
probably top the list of contributors, especially on a 
per capita basis (just like they do in so many sporting 
events!), but we have received also high-quality input 
from many other countries including India, Pakistan, 
and countries in Africa and the Middle East.

We do not have an established parent journal on 
whose shoulders we can stand, which has been such 
a successful model for many other medical journals. 
Indexing will not come until 2023 at the earliest, and our 

first impact factor in 2025 or later will undoubtedly be 
modest, but we have an opportunity to build something 
unique in the field, something global, diverse, and 
inclusive. We welcome the input of those who support 
the concept now—and will welcome those who need 
indexing and impact factor later. Indexing is a priority 
for the SIUJ, so that we can increase the reach of our 
articles and better serve the needs of our authors. It 
requires careful planning but also continued support 
from our authors and reviewers who are willing to take 
the risk on a new journal.

References

1. National Librar y of Medicine. Journal selection for MEDLINE. 
Available at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline/medline_journal_
selection.html. Accessed August 16, 2022.

2. National Library of Medicine; PubMed Central. Journal selection 
for PMC. Available at: https://w w w.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/pub/
journalselect/. Accessed August 16, 2022.

3. National Library of Medicine; PubMed Central. How to include a 
journal in PMC. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
pub/addjournal/. Accessed August 16, 2022.

http://SIUJ.org
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline/medline_journal_selection.html
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline/medline_journal_selection.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/pub/journalselect/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/pub/journalselect/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/pub/addjournal/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/pub/addjournal/



