Journal Health Check
Overview
Your editor is stretched, issues slip, and leadership keeps asking why the journal is not indexed. Before spending on any fix, find out exactly where the journal stands. The Journal Health Check reviews one journal across eleven areas: editorial workload, peer review, research integrity, methods and reporting checks, platform, production regularity, discoverability, indexing eligibility, funding model, governance, and reporting to leadership.
For: universities, academic societies, hospitals and research institutions running one or more journals; editors-in-chief who need an evidence-based plan rather than opinions.
What’s Included
- Scorecard — the journal rated across all eleven areas, with severity
- Indexing eligibility map — criteria-by-criteria status for DOAJ, Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE/PMC and relevant regional lists, with the earliest realistic date for each
- Prioritized roadmap — what to fix first, what it costs, and what can wait
- Leadership summary — two pages written for a dean, council or society board
- Results call — 45 minutes with the editor and the institution’s decision-maker
How It Works
| Step | What happens | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Access | You share the journal site, OJS or platform access, policies and recent issues | Week 1 |
| 2. Review | We assess all eleven areas and check every database’s published criteria | Weeks 1–3 |
| 3. Report | Scorecard, eligibility map, roadmap and leadership summary delivered | Week 3–4 |
| 4. Results call | Decisions on what to do next | Week 4 |
Fixed fee, one journal. The fee is credited against any NeucitePress package signed within 90 days. Institutions with several journals can request the Multi-Journal Portfolio Review instead.
What Stays With Your Editors
The journal’s editors keep final authority over reviewer selection, editorial assessment and acceptance. The Health Check assesses process and infrastructure; it does not judge individual editorial decisions.
Important Limitations
- Assessment, not application — application preparation and remediation are separate services, mapped in the roadmap.
- Inclusion is decided solely by each database — DOAJ, Scopus, Web of Science and NLM make independent decisions. NeucitePress prepares, remediates and submits; it cannot sell inclusion.
- Point in time — the report reflects the journal as reviewed.
Common Questions
We already applied to Scopus and were rejected. Is this still useful?
Yes. The eligibility map shows which criteria failed and what must change before a reapplication has a realistic chance.
Our journal is new. Should we wait?
No. A new journal benefits most from knowing the indexing timeline early — DOAJ, for example, expects publishing history before it will consider an application.
Can leadership see the report?
The two-page summary is written for exactly that audience.
Every NeucitePress journal package begins here.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.