Everything in writing, first
Before we start, you get a written plan. What we will do, by when, for how much, and how many rounds of changes are included. The price does not change later.
SCI / SCIE journals
Preparing work for the Web of Science Core Collection.
These journals are judged on how carefully they review papers and how often their papers are cited. Their review is slower, more technical and harder to pass. That changes how you should write your paper.
What SCIE means
One list inside a bigger collection.
SCIE is one of several lists inside the Web of Science Core Collection, run by a company called Clarivate. Journals have to meet published quality standards to get on it. They are also checked afterwards, and journals do get removed.
In Indian university rules, “SCI” usually means SCIE. If your department asks for SCI, ask them in writing whether an SCIE journal counts. Almost always it does, because most journals people have in mind are on the SCIE list.
Impact Factor and quartile rank (Q1, Q2 and so on) come from a separate report. Two things are worth knowing. Quartiles change every year. And the same journal can be Q1 in one subject and Q2 in another, in the same year. Neither number tells you whether your paper will be accepted.
At a glance
- Maintained by
- Clarivate
- Part of
- Web of Science Core Collection
- How journals get on
- They must meet published quality standards, and are re-checked
- Impact Factor source
- Journal Citation Reports
- Quartiles (Q1, Q2)
- Depend on the subject, and change every year
- Common confusion
- “SCI” in Indian rules almost always means SCIE
The workflow
A longer runway, planned properly.
Review here takes a long time. So preparation really matters. A few extra weeks before you submit costs far less than a rejection four months later.
01
Technical readiness audit
Methods, analysis and reporting audited against what a technical reviewer in your field will check.
02
Category and journal selection
Shortlisting by subject category and by what the journal has actually published, with current listing and quartile checked.
03
Manuscript rebuild
Reporting brought to standard, figures rebuilt, supplementary and reproducibility material assembled.
04
Compliance and declarations
Author guidelines, ethics approvals, data availability, funding and conflict-of-interest statements.
05
Submission pack
Cover letter making the case for fit, suggested-reviewer rationale where the journal asks for it, and all required files.
06
Major revision support
SCIE reviews often return substantial requests. We work through them with you, including new analysis where the data supports it.
Journal fit
What we verify before shortlisting.
Web of Science listings and quartiles both change. Everything here is checked at the time of advice.
| What we check | How we check it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Current Core Collection listing | Checked against the Web of Science master journal list | Titles are added and removed on ongoing evaluation |
| Index within the collection | Whether the title is in SCIE, SSCI, AHCI or ESCI | Regulations often specify which index counts |
| Subject category | The category or categories the journal is classified under | Quartile is category-specific, not absolute |
| Quartile and Impact Factor | Most recent Journal Citation Reports figures, with the year stated | Figures are revised annually and should be quoted with their year |
| Published scope in practice | Recent issues read for topic, method and article type | Aims-and-scope text is often broader than practice |
| Review model and timeline | Whatever the journal publishes about its own process | Unpublished timelines cannot be promised by anyone |
| Fees and licensing | Open-access charges, licence options and waiver policies | Costs vary widely and should inform the shortlist |
Indexing lists change. Coverage is reviewed and revised by the indexing bodies themselves, and a journal listed today may not be listed next year. We check the current official list at the time of submission and share what we find, including when the answer is unclear.
Quality control
Checks that matter most for technical review.
SCIE reviewers read the methods first. Our checks are weighted accordingly.
Reproducibility audit
Every parameter, instrument, version and preprocessing step a reader would need in order to repeat the work, including the ones you are currently missing.
Statistical treatment
Analysis checked against study design, with uncertainty reported and comparisons made against a defensible baseline.
Code and data availability
Repository structure, documentation and availability statements prepared to the journal's data policy.
Figure integrity
Resolution, colour accessibility, labelling, units and consistency between figures and reported numbers.
Independent technical read
A second consultant with subject background reads the manuscript cold before it returns to you.
Declarations and ethics
Approvals, consent, registration where applicable, funding and conflict-of-interest statements.
Publication ethics
What we will not do, whatever the deadline.
Pressure to publish in indexed journals has produced an industry of practices that end careers. We stay well clear of all of it.
We do not communicate with journals for you. Correspondence with editors comes from the corresponding author. We help you prepare what you send; we never send it in your name.
- You are the author. Our name appears nowhere on your paper
- We never write to editors or reviewers pretending to be you
- We never buy, sell or accept a place on an author list
- We never arrange citations or citation swaps
- We never work with a journal we cannot find on the official list
- We never promise a decision date the journal has not published itself
Common questions
Questions about this route to publication.
In current usage, the Science Citation Index Expanded is the index that exists within the Web of Science Core Collection. Indian academic regulations often still say SCI. If your requirement uses that wording, confirm in writing with your department whether SCIE titles satisfy it before you submit.
No. We can help you identify Q1 journals in your subject category whose scope matches your work, and prepare the manuscript to their standard. Whether it is accepted is decided by reviewers and an editor. Quartiles also change annually, so a Q1 target today may be Q2 by the time of publication.
Longer than most authors expect. Often several months to a first decision, and major revisions can add several more. Some journals publish average times; where they do, we will show you the figure and its source.
Then the honest conversation is about which routes are realistic in that window, and that may mean a different kind of journal or a conference. We would rather have that conversation early than have you wait four months for a rejection.
Yes, and it is often where support matters most. We work through each comment with you, identify what needs new analysis, and draft the point-by-point response for you to send.
Editing, statistical and language support is normally acknowledged rather than declared as authorship, and many journals ask for exactly that in their acknowledgements policy. We will tell you what your target journal's policy says, and you make the acknowledgement.