You can verify a journal's indexing status by searching its title or ISSN directly on the official Scopus Sources list (sources.scopus.com) or the Web of Science Master Journal List (mjl.clarivate.com).
Check Scopus Indexing
Visit the Scopus Sources portal and enter the journal name or ISSN in the search bar. The results will show whether the journal is currently indexed, along with its subject categories and coverage years. Scopus updates this list regularly, so you'll see the most current status. If a journal appears with an "Active" status, it's currently indexed; journals removed from Scopus will show historical coverage dates.
Check Web of Science Indexing
Navigate to the Web of Science Master Journal List and search by journal title, ISSN, or publisher. The results indicate which Web of Science index covers the journal—such as Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), or Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). The listing also shows the journal's impact factor and subject categories if applicable.
Why Indexing Status Matters
Researchers check indexing status for several reasons: verifying journal quality before submission, meeting institutional requirements for publication venues, or ensuring citations will appear in major databases. Scopus and Web of Science indexing often correlates with peer review rigor and academic reputation, though it's not the only quality indicator.
Alternative Verification Methods
If you're searching for papers rather than evaluating journals, you can filter by database coverage directly in your literature search. When you need to find high-quality research across multiple databases while avoiding predatory sources, WisPaper's Scholar Search automatically filters results from 360M+ papers across verified academic sources, eliminating the need to manually check indexing status for every journal you encounter.
Both official lists are free to access and provide the most authoritative confirmation of a journal's indexing status.
