What is the difference between a journal being "registered with x abstracting partners" vs a journal being "indexed in a journal? What does each of these terms mean?
I recently published an article in a pubmed indexed journal, however, it does not appear on the pubmed search. Why is that? What should I do about it?
Zahra Khalaf A journal that is registered with abstracting partners has supplied its material to these abstracting partners, which can include databases like PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. These abstracting partners give readers with summary information (abstracts) about the journal's articles, which they may then use to determine whether to access the complete article.
A journal is indexed in a database, on the other hand, indicates that the journal's articles are included in the database and searchable by database users. Indexing is the more extensive inclusion of an article in a database, which includes the whole text of the item as well as other metadata.
Even though the journal is indexed in PubMed, it is conceivable that your paper has not yet been added in the database. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including delays in processing or indexing the item, as well as difficulties with the article's layout or metadata.
If you feel your article should be in the PubMed database but it isn't showing up in search results, contact the journal or the PubMed support staff to enquire about the problem. They may be able to give further information or assist in resolving any difficulties preventing the item from being included in the database.
There are different levels of coverage for journals in PubMed. Look up the journal title in the NLM Catalog of journals: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals. If the journal entry says "indexed for MEDLINE", that means PubMed includes results for all of the articles (or at least the research & review articles) and subject headings are provided by NLM. If it says "selected citations only" and "not currently indexed for MEDLINE", that means only articles that are in PubMed Central (PMC, the full text database) make it into PubMed, because they are subject to NIH's Public Access Policy. You'll also find PubMed content for some journals that deposit all their content in PMC but that are not indexed for MEDLINE. Here's a good overview of the content in PubMed and might help explain why you'd not finding your article there: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/about/
Based on the language you used ("registered with x abstracting partners" vs "indexed in a journal" [is that supposed to read "indexed in a database"?), it sounds like a bit of semantics on the publisher's part. If the journal provides its contents to Google Scholar, which does not vet which journals it covers, that might be considered a "partner", or if the publisher provides its contents to CrossRef, that could be another example of a partner, vs. the journal having been reviewed and accepted by MEDLINE or Web of Science and more extensively covered as Fatemah described, including subject headings and other metadata.
A journal being "registered with x abstracting partners" typically means that the journal's content is available to be included in the databases of various abstracting and indexing (A&I) services. These services collect, abstract (provide a summary), and index the articles published in a journal, making it easier for researchers to discover and access the journal's content. Examples of abstracting partners include Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed Central.
A journal being "indexed in a journal" generally refers to the journal being included in a specific indexing service, such as PubMed or Scopus. Indexing means the journal articles are included in the database, and the articles can be searched by specific search criteria.
Regarding your second question, if an article has been published in a PubMed indexed journal, but it does not appear on PubMed search, that could be because the PubMed system has not yet indexed the article. It can take some time for articles to be indexed in PubMed and appear in the search results. Typically articles published in PubMed indexed journals will take a month to appear in the PubMed search. If your article still not indexed even after a month or so, you should contact the publisher or PubMed helpdesk for assistance
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