Indexing and Impact Factor

The American Journal of Health and Medical Sciences (AJHMS) recognizes that visibility, credibility, and scholarly influence are vital components of modern academic publishing. In an era defined by digital accessibility and global interconnectivity, the indexing and citation of published works are fundamental to ensuring that scientific research reaches a broad and diverse audience.

Indexing not only enhances the discoverability of individual articles but also strengthens the reputation and impact of the journal as a whole. The inclusion of AJHMS in reputable databases ensures that its publications are recognized, cited, and used by researchers, educators, policymakers, and practitioners worldwide. Through rigorous editorial standards, ethical review processes, and technological advancement, AJHMS strives to maintain the highest level of academic visibility and integrity.

As a peer-reviewed, open-access international journal, AJHMS guarantees unrestricted access to its published materials across multiple digital platforms. This commitment to open dissemination is supported by continuous efforts to integrate the journal into global indexing repositories, research databases, citation systems, and long-term digital archiving networks. Together, these mechanisms amplify the reach and influence of AJHMS’s research, ensuring that the journal contributes meaningfully to the worldwide exchange of medical and scientific knowledge.

The Importance of Indexing in the Global Research Ecosystem

Indexing serves as the foundation of academic legitimacy, discoverability, and scholarly recognition. For authors, inclusion in recognized indexing services significantly increases the visibility and citation potential of their research. For institutions, it facilitates accreditation, ranking, and funding opportunities, while for readers and policymakers, it ensures access to credible, peer-reviewed scientific evidence.

Proper indexing provides several key benefits:

  1. Integration into Global Literature: Indexed articles are more likely to appear in systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and bibliometric evaluations, allowing contributions to be integrated into the broader body of scientific knowledge.
  2. Citation Tracking and Referencing: Indexing enables accurate citation monitoring through global referencing systems, supporting research impact measurement and author recognition.
  3. Global Discoverability: Indexed content is searchable through academic search engines, digital libraries, and institutional repositories, increasing international visibility and cross-disciplinary readership.
  4. Compliance with Funders’ Mandates: Many funding agencies, including those under Plan S and Horizon Europe, require that research outputs be published in journals indexed in recognized open-access repositories such as DOAJ, Scopus, or Web of Science.
  5. Long-Term Scholarly Preservation: Indexed journals ensure that research remains archived and retrievable for future generations of researchers.

AJHMS views indexing not merely as a technical milestone but as a strategic responsibility—an essential step toward ensuring that research findings transcend geographic and institutional boundaries while fostering innovation and collaboration across the global health and medical sciences community.

Current Indexing and Coverage

AJHMS is actively expanding its presence across major indexing databases and citation networks to ensure that its publications achieve maximum discoverability, accessibility, and scholarly permanence. The journal’s current repositories and databases include:

  • Google Scholar: Facilitates global visibility, citation tracking, and discoverability of AJHMS articles across academic disciplines.
  • CrossRef (DOI Registration): Assigns a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to every published article, ensuring permanent digital accessibility and citation consistency.
  • WorldCat: Integrates AJHMS into international library catalog systems, making articles accessible through university and institutional networks.
  • PKP Index: Enhances discoverability through the Public Knowledge Project’s open-access indexing network, particularly in developing regions.
  • BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine): Provides broad access through one of the largest global academic search aggregators for open-access research.
  • Scilit (powered by MDPI): Strengthens discoverability through advanced algorithmic indexing and metadata curation.
  • Internet Archive: Guarantees long-term digital preservation, ensuring that all AJHMS publications remain accessible and citable indefinitely.

Through this growing network of indexing partnerships, AJHMS ensures that published research reaches scholars, clinicians, and decision-makers across the world, fostering a continuous exchange of scientific and medical knowledge.

Digital Archiving and Preservation

Long-term preservation of academic work is a central tenet of AJHMS’s publishing philosophy. To secure the continuity and integrity of published research, the journal collaborates with globally recognized preservation services, including:

  • LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe): Provides redundancy by archiving multiple copies across participating libraries to safeguard against data loss.
  • CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS): Offers community-governed, secure preservation against digital obsolescence.
  • PKP Preservation Network (PN): Ensures the long-term archiving of journals using the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform.
  • Internet Archive: Provides public-facing preservation to guarantee permanent access to AJHMS content.

These partnerships underscore AJHMS’s commitment to sustainable and transparent scholarly communication, ensuring that published research remains accessible, verifiable, and protected over time.

Strategic Indexing Goals and Expansion Roadmap

AJHMS has established a long-term indexing strategy aimed at achieving recognition in major global databases. The journal’s ongoing priorities include:

  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): Evaluation for inclusion based on open-access ethics and publication transparency.
  • EBSCO and ProQuest: Expansion into academic discovery databases for increased institutional access.
  • RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) and EconBiz: Integration for interdisciplinary studies related to health economics and policy.
  • Scopus (Elsevier): Application and evaluation for inclusion in one of the world’s most respected abstract and citation databases.
  • Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics): Long-term goal toward indexing in Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and evaluation for an official Journal Impact Factor (JIF).

By aligning with these international standards, AJHMS continues its mission to strengthen visibility, enhance scholarly quality, and promote open-access medical research with measurable global impact.

Citation Metrics and Alternative Indicators

While AJHMS continues its journey toward inclusion in Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports, it already provides authors with access to multiple citation and impact tracking mechanisms:

  • Google Scholar Metrics: Tracks citation counts, h-index, and i10-index for AJHMS publications.
  • CrossRef Event Data: Monitors DOI-linked activity, including citations, sharing, and reuse.
  • Altmetric Integration (forthcoming): Will provide article-level impact insights beyond traditional metrics, including social media engagement, mentions in blogs, policy documents, and educational resources.

This integrated approach ensures that both academic and societal influence are captured and measured transparently, reflecting the journal’s dedication to responsible research assessment and long-term knowledge dissemination.

Roadmap Toward a Journal Impact Factor

Securing an official Journal Impact Factor (JIF) from Clarivate remains a major strategic goal for AJHMS. The process involves a rigorous, multi-stage progression that reflects sustained quality, international participation, and consistent scholarly contribution. The roadmap includes:

  1. Maintaining a regular and timely publication schedule (minimum four issues annually).
  2. Achieving successful indexing in DOAJ and RePEc.
  3. Securing inclusion in Scopus and Web of Science (ESCI).
  4. Accumulating at least two years of consistent citation data in international databases.
  5. Undergoing evaluation by Clarivate Analytics for formal impact factor assignment.

Upon completion of these milestones, AJHMS will be positioned to achieve official impact factor recognition, further establishing its role as a leading publication in the global health and medical research community.

Benefits for Authors and Institutions

Authors publishing with AJHMS benefit from broad visibility, verified indexing, and citation recognition across multiple academic and professional databases. Institutional partners gain from the journal’s alignment with international standards of open-access publishing, enabling their research outputs to reach a wider audience.

By maintaining its commitment to transparency, accessibility, and academic excellence, AJHMS ensures that every published article contributes meaningfully to the global pursuit of better healthcare, medical innovation, and scientific progress.