Indexing Consultancy
Guidance for editorial teams preparing their own journal's indexing application.
Get your journal ready to apply to indexing databases — with an honest readiness review, standards guidance, and documentation support.
Overview
Indexing databases each set their own criteria, and applications are assessed independently by those databases. We help editorial teams prepare: we review your journal against the standards indexing bodies look for, identify the gaps, and help you assemble the documentation an application requires. The decision always rests with the indexing database — our role is to give your title the strongest, most honest application it can make.
We do not promise or guarantee any indexing outcome, and we never represent that a database has accepted a journal that it has not.
Our approach
Indexing consultancy is about readiness, not promises. We assess your journal against the criteria indexing databases apply, show you honestly where it stands, help you close the gaps, and prepare the documentation an application needs. When it is ready, you submit — and the database decides independently.
This service is for your own journal. We prepare your editorial team's application; we do not add any journal to a database ourselves, and we never represent an indexing status a journal does not hold.
What’s included
Readiness review
An honest assessment of your journal against common indexing criteria.
Standards & ethics
Guidance on the editorial standards and publication ethics reviewers expect.
Documentation support
Help assembling the records and materials an application requires.
Application guidance
Step-by-step guidance through the application process itself.
A clear, guided process
Assess
We review your journal against the standards indexing databases apply.
Plan
We identify gaps and agree a plan to address them.
Prepare
We help you strengthen the journal and assemble the documentation.
Apply
You submit your application to the database, which decides independently.
Deliverables
- An honest readiness assessment against common indexing criteria.
- A gap analysis and a practical plan to address it.
- Support assembling the documentation an application requires.
- Guidance through the application process for databases such as Scopus and DOAJ.
Standards & rigour
We prepare journals against the editorial and ethical standards that indexing databases assess — without ever overstating the outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Can you guarantee acceptance into Scopus or DOAJ?
No. Each database decides independently against its own criteria. We prepare the strongest, most honest application your journal can make.
Whose journal does this apply to?
Your own journal. We prepare your editorial team's application; we do not add your journal to any database ourselves.
What do you actually deliver?
A readiness assessment, a gap analysis, documentation support, and guidance through the application.
How long does it take?
It depends on the journal's starting point; the readiness review gives you a realistic picture up front.
See the research we publish
Browse peer-reviewed papers, studies, and reports published through Emirates Scholar Center for Research & Studies.
Not sure which service you need?
Tell us about your journal, institution, or manuscript and our team will point you to the right service — and the people behind it.
