Understanding where to publish your research is key! The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has a precise categorization for recognizing scholarly publications. Here's a breakdown: 🥇 Category W (Top Tier) Includes all journals indexed in any of the prestigious Web of Science (WOS) collections: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) 🥈 Category X (High Quality) All journals indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) of Web of Science. PLUS: Pakistani journals indexed in Scopus that meet the following additional criteria: ✅ Indexed with Scopus. ✅ Minimum 25% International authorship. ✅ Use of Open Journal Management System (OJS) or similar for submissions and peer review. ✅ No self-institutional publications from Editors/Editorial Board members. ✅ Published articles peer-reviewed by well-reputed international experts. 🥉 Category Y (Recognized) Pakistani journals indexed in Scopus that do not fulfill the additional criteria for Category X. Pakistani journals indexed in MEDLINE (PubMed). Pakistani journals indexed in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). National journals recommended by the HEC local committee. Looking for recognized national journals? You can find the list here: https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/services/faculty/journals/Documents/List%20of%20national%20journals%20on%20web-1.pdf