SCI and SCIE journals: how to check the Web of Science list

Is there still an “SCI journal list”?

No, not as a separate list. The Science Citation Index began in 1965 and for decades came as a printed and later CD-ROM product with a limited set of journals. The Science Citation Index Expanded was the online version, free of those space limits and so much larger. According to Clarivate’s own FAQ, once the two applied the same selection standards, Clarivate dropped the SCI name in January 2020 and unified the terminology under SCIE. Its Master Journal List now shows SCIE only.

That is why a search for “SCI journal list” leads to so many unofficial spreadsheets and PDFs, and why none of them can be the current list. Whatever a website calls its list, the journals that count as “SCI” today are the ones Clarivate records as SCIE.

So when a PhD rule, fellowship call or recruitment notice asks for an “SCI” paper, check for SCIE on the journal’s record. What each rule wording allows, and when SSCI or AHCI counts instead, is covered in our Scopus vs Web of Science guide.

SCIE, SSCI, AHCI and ESCI: what each listing means for your paper

The Web of Science Core Collection sorts journals into indexes. A journal record on the Master Journal List shows which of them it belongs to:

The first three are the long-established, selective indexes. Clarivate’s SCIE product page currently describes SCIE as covering about 9,430 actively publishing journals across 178 subject categories; check that page for the current figure, because journals are added and removed through the year.

ESCI journals are in Web of Science and have an impact factor, but ESCI is a separate index, so it doesn’t satisfy a rule that names SCI or SCIE. That is why step 5 below asks you to read the exact collection name on the record.

How to check a journal in the Master Journal List, step by step

The whole check takes about five minutes. Do it for every journal on your shortlist, and again just before you submit, because Web of Science coverage changes.

1. 1

   Get the journal’s ISSN from its own website

   Note both the print ISSN and the online ISSN (eISSN) if the journal has two. Search by ISSN rather than by title, because many journals share similar names.

2. 2

   Open the Master Journal List

   Go to mjl.clarivate.com, Clarivate’s own site. Searching is free. Viewing a full journal profile asks you to sign in with a free Clarivate account.

3. 3

   Search the ISSN and open the result

   If nothing comes up, try the other ISSN and then the exact title. No result for either ISSN means the journal is not in Web of Science.

4. 4

   Match title, publisher and ISSN

   All three must agree with the journal you plan to submit to. A similar title from a different publisher is a different journal.

5. 5

   Read the Web of Science Coverage

   The profile lists the collections the journal is in. For a rule that says SCI or SCIE, you need Science Citation Index Expanded in that list.

6. 6

   Compare the website address

   Check that the journal website in the Clarivate record is the one you are about to submit to. A different address can mean a hijacked or clone site using the real journal’s name and ISSN.

Take a screenshot of the record with the date visible and keep it with your submission files. If your thesis section or a selection committee questions the journal later, you can show what the record said when you submitted.

Our free journal checker walks through the same checks alongside the Scopus and UGC-CARE ones, with links to each official source. For Scopus, the equivalent step-by-step check is in our Scopus indexing guide.

Can you download the SCIE list?

The Master Journal List offers collection list downloads to signed-in users, with each journal’s title, ISSN and publisher. They are useful for building a shortlist in your subject, but a downloaded file is a snapshot. Before you submit, check the journal’s live record again.

Where the impact factor comes from, and why SCIE doesn’t mean “high impact”

The Journal Impact Factor is calculated by Clarivate from Web of Science data and published once a year in Journal Citation Reports (JCR). JCR is a subscription product: you can usually reach it through your university library’s subscription, but not through the free Master Journal List.

Two changes explain why the impact factor no longer tells you which index a journal is in. From the 2023 JCR release Clarivate extended the impact factor from SCIE and SSCI journals to AHCI and ESCI journals too, and began showing it to one decimal place. From 2024 it ranked journals in each subject category in a single list that includes ESCI titles. So “has an impact factor” now means the journal is in one of the four Core Collection journal indexes, not necessarily in SCIE.

Being in SCIE also doesn’t make a journal high impact. SCIE contains journals across the whole range, from the most cited in a field to modest regional titles. The quartile in JCR tells you where a journal sits within its subject category. Our guide to impact factor, quartiles and the h-index explains how to read those numbers, and our journal selection guide covers what matters beyond them.

How to verify an “SCI indexed” claim

When you need an SCIE paper by a deadline, it helps to check these points carefully:

• A claim you can’t find in the Master Journal List. If the ISSN returns nothing, the journal isn’t in Web of Science, whatever its home page says.
• A hijacked website. The record is real, but the site you found is a copy using the real journal’s name and ISSN. Compare the web address in the Clarivate record with the one taking your submission.
• Wording that sounds like SCI but isn’t. “SCI-indexed conference”, “indexed in SCI-like databases”, “Web of Science ready”, or a list of indexes where the Clarivate name appears alongside unknown ones.
• Impact factors from other sources. Several websites sell their own “impact factor” with an official-sounding name. Only a Journal Impact Factor from Clarivate’s JCR counts as one.
• A promised acceptance or publication date. SCIE journals decide through peer review, so acceptance and dates depend on the review outcome, not on a fee.

Our predatory journal guide covers the wider set of indicators, and the predatory journal checker takes you through them one question at a time.

Why this guide links to the live Master Journal List

Clarivate adds journals to its indexes and removes them throughout the year, sometimes including titles from large, well-known publishers. A list copied onto any website, including ours, starts going out of date on the day it is saved. A scholar who relies on it can end up publishing in a journal that was removed months earlier, or turning down a suitable one that was added recently.

The Master Journal List is free and takes minutes to use, so the live record is the best source. What we can usefully do is help you shortlist suitable SCIE journals for your paper and check each against the live record; our SCI publication support does that, with the final decision resting with each journal’s peer review.