There are many rich options for researchers to tap into during their literature search. To understand these options better, let’s take a look at the types of indexing in journals and how journal indexing databases can be classified.
Specificity
Broad or general indexes are, as the name indicates, broad in scope and coverage. Examples of such indexing databases in research are Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Scopus, and Web of Science.
Free search engines like Google Scholar also fall in this category. Google Scholar indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across the breadth of disciplines and publishing formats. This is where a researcher typically launches preliminary searches before a deep dive into specialized indexes.
Specialized indexes are indexes specific to certain fields or subject areas. Examples of specialized indexes are Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), which includes mainly science and technology journals; PubMed, which contains mostly biomedical journals; and Arts & Humanities Citation Index, which includes mostly arts and humanities journals.
Geographical coverage
While indexes like Web of Science include journals from many countries, some are specific to a country or region, e.g., Korean Citation Index.
Access
Many journal indexing databases are free and open to the public (e.g., Web of Science Master Journal List), while some are subscription based. Journals in subscription-based indexes are generally considered higher in status, perhaps because of the stronger assessment for inclusion in such journal indexing databases. However, their access would be limited to subscribers
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