Index Copernicus

Due to the high market competition in the areas of Index Copernicus's operations, activities aimed at creating a negative image of the company are noticed. We would hereby like to respond to the allegations that have been raised. 

The activities of Index Copernicus are questioned primarily as a result of the inclusion of the ICI Journals Master List database on the list of false bibliometric metrics by the American author Jeffrey Beall (the year of the last edition of the list was 2016 – source: https://beallslist.weebly.com/misleading-metrics.html).

The reasons why Jeffrey Beall considered the ICI Journals Master List database to be false include: charging fees for indexation, the presence of the phrase "Impact Factor" in the name of the calculated indicator, or an unoriginal methodology of journal evaluation. Beall's publication contributed to several articles duplicating the allegations on the list. Other reasons why the authors of similar lists consider the Index Copernicus database to be false and the journal evaluation process as worthless include awarding higher scores to journals compared to titles such as "Science" or "Nature" and referring to the index calculated by Index Copernicus for journals considered to be predatory.

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The allegations that Index Copernicus supports unethical publishing practices of Predatory Journals are false. This is evidenced by, among others, is that:

•  Index Copernicus does not meet any of the criteria for a false indexing database indicated by Beall.

•  Index Copernicus has never assessed the journals "Science" or "Nature", so they could not be rated lower than other journals.

• Journals publishing bibliometric indicators from recognized international databases in which they would like to be included, but are currently not indexed (e.g. the “International Journal Of Modern Pharmaceutical Research (IJMPR)” which also refers to the "Impact Factor" indicator), is one of the main determinants of predatory journals. The owners of the databases cannot be blamed for this, but rather the editorial offices of these journals.

• During the evaluation in the ICI Journals Master List database, journals are verified in terms of the use of reliable editorial services. Journals that fail this verification process are marked with the Predatory Alert status (e.g. “International Journal Of Modern Pharmaceutical Research (IJMPR)”) or Transparency Warning (e.g. “Medicinal Plants - International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries”).

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Below we present a response to the criteria defining the entities creating introductory documents misleading as to the quality of the journal by bibliometric indicators (source: https://beallslist.weebly.com/misleading-metrics.html) along with a brief description of both the Index Copernicus company and the proprietary measure of the level of development of the journal - the Index Copernicus Value indicator.

1. The website for the metric is nontransparent and provides little information about itself such as location, management team and its experience, other company information, and the like.

Index Copernicus has a transparent website in Polish and English to enable users from different countries to read the content there. The company's headquarters is located in Poland, and the main branch is in the capital of Poland - Warsaw. Information about its exact address and contact details (telephone and e-mail) is available on each subpage of the website, in sent notifications, e-mails and mailings. The main website page also contains information about the achievements, experience, and activities carried out by the Index Copernicus International Team aimed at parametrization, popularization and commercialization of scientific achievements. Due to the above, the accusation of lack of transparency of the Index Copernicus website is considered groundless.

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2. The company charges journals for inclusion in the list.

Index Copernicus maintains two databases of scientific journals. The first one is ICI World of Journals, which currently presents profiles of over 70,000 journals from around the world. As part of the ICI World of Journals database, each Editorial Office receives free access to an IT system enabling the management of the Journal Passport, which is a modern way of presenting the periodical.

The second database is the ICI Journals Master List, which indexes journals that successfully pass the parametric evaluation process every year. Submitting a journal for indexation is free of charge and is done by sending an evaluation survey by the date specified in the evaluation schedule. Every year, the application collection process takes place in June-August, and the results are published in September-November.

If the editorial office decides to submit the journal for evaluation after the deadline defined by the evaluation calendar or wants to receive the evaluation result (acceptance or refusal of indexation) after 14 days, it can purchase the so-called Evaluation on Request. Evaluation on Request does not exempt editors from the need to meet the indexation criteria and does not affect the evaluation result. Therefore, the accusation of charging fees for indexing journals is considered groundless.

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3. The values (scores) for most or all of the journals on the list increase each year.

Evaluation result in the ICI Journals Master List database - Index Copernicus Value points are a measure of the parametric strength of scientific journals. As a result of the evaluation, journal operators, in addition to the ICV index value determined by the algorithm, also receive an Evaluation Report - feedback on the extent to which the evaluation criteria have been met. For each of the criteria, it is possible to identify actions that journal editors should take in order to increase the quality of the scientific journal and the strength of its impact. Editorial offices of journals indexed in the ICI database have been receiving specific guidelines for many years to develop a comprehensive publishing strategy, learn about applicable publishing standards and solutions whose implementation increases the level of digitization and internationalization of the journal, and consequently, the value of the ICV index, which measures the above parameters.

Due to the above, the allegation of an increase in the points obtained by journals year to year is considered groundless, because the journals whose representatives use Index Copernicus consulting services significantly improve their publication efficiency indicators in subsequent years of evaluation, thus achieving better results in the parametric evaluation of the ICI Journals Master List.

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4. The company uses Google Scholar as its database for calculating metrics (Google Scholar does not screen for quality and indexes predatory journals).

Index Copernicus does not use the Google Scholar database. The evaluation result in the ICI Journals Master List database - Index Copernicus Value points is calculated based on parametric data declared by the editors in evaluation surveys, and not based on citations identified by Google Scholar. Therefore, the allegation of using the Google Scholar database as a basis for calculating the ICV index is considered groundless.

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5. The metric uses the term “impact factor” in its name.

The evaluation result in the ICI Journals Master List database - Index Copernicus Value points, does not contain the phrase "Impact Factor" in its name. ICV is not a citation indicator, but a parametric indicator. Therefore, the accusation that Index Copernicus uses the name "Impact Factor" is considered groundless.

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6. The methodology for calculating the value is contrived, unscientific, or unoriginal.

The methodology for parameterization of scientific journals by Index Copernicus is based on the analysis of 41 parameters of the functioning of journals. This is the so-called the ICI Publishing Stars model allowing for measuring the achievements of journal editors in those areas that constitute the author's vision of an "a well-functioning scientific journal". These achievements are expressed in the degree of reliability of the editorial services provided, compliance with ethical standards, and the geographical diversity of those involved in running the journal of scientists, the use of available digitization tools, publishing stability and the level to which the journal has already been noticed in the world of science - its impact.

The primary purpose of parameterization is therefore to determine the extent to which a given editorial office carries out the tasks assigned to a scientific journal, and such tasks include, first of all, reliable description, quick dissemination and effective promotion of research results in the national and international arena serving the development of a given scientific discipline.  Due to the above, the accusation of unscientific and unoriginality of the evaluation methodology used in the ICI Journals Master List database is considered groundless.

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7. The company exists solely for the purpose of earning money from questionable journals that use the gold open-access model. The company charges the journals and assigns them a value, and then the journals use the number to help increase article submissions and therefore revenue. Alternatively, the company exists as a front for an existing publisher and assigns values to that publisher’s journals.

The aim of Index Copernicus is to support scientists and scientific units in managing the development of scientific potential, cooperation to create an adequate system for the evaluation of scientific publications, and to help build the competences of editors of national scientific journals.

We are aware of the use of the Index Copernicus logo by entities engaging in unethical publishing practices in order to attract recognized authors and reviewers, as well as to improve their financial situation. This applies primarily to entities from countries such as India, Indonesia, Türkiye and Ukraine. Index Copernicus is not affiliated with any scientific journal publishing house. It does not favor or assign a particular value of the ICV index to any of the journals that submit for evaluation in the ICI Journals Master List database. Accordingly, this allegation is found to be unfounded.

Index Copernicus is an entity that is a 100% Polish brand. The Index Copernicus team has knowledge about the operating parameters of several thousand scientific journals from around the world. It analyzes trends in the technological solutions used by editorial offices, as well as in the marketing and publishing strategies adopted. Provides consulting services to the management of scientific institutions, publishing houses and editorial offices.