Indexing Implications of Title Changes

A title change is considered a significant change for any journal. Title changes have a wide-ranging impact, and therefore all factors should be considered and discussed before the final decision is made. One major implication of title changes is their effect on indexing services. If you are just starting to talk about a potential title change, here are four quick points regarding indexing title changes to keep in mind:

1. Planning Ahead 

Title changes are communicated to external indexing partners through the Indexing Team’s biannual Journal Updates newsletter, which is based on the Springer Nature Journal Catalog. Indexing Services update their systems in the first quarter of each year; therefore, to align with the expectations of our partners, we strongly recommend that Title Changes are scheduled for the beginning of the new year (i.e. the title will change as of January 1). Following this schedule, you should plan to confirm this change with the Journal Catalog team by the preceding July. This schedule will ensure that Indexing Services are notified regarding the title change in advance, which will streamline the updating process.

2. Scope of the Journal

Even if a journal was indexed under the previous title, there is no guarantee that the journal will continue to be indexed under the new title. To illustrate the significance a title change can have on the journal’s continued indexing, consider the following two points:

• Premier indexing services such as Web of Science, Medline, and PMC review all journals that change titles to ensure the requirements related to scope and content are still being met
• One of the editorial criteria used when evaluating journals for inclusion in premier indexing services is “Content Relevance”, that is, whether the journal’s published content is in alignment with the journal’s title and its Aims and Scope

There are several reasons why a journal may decide to change its title, and title changes may not mean that the scope of a journal has changed. However, it is often the case that a title change can signal a change in the subject field of a journal, or a change in the type(s) of content being published. Please refer to the Best Practice Guide for Reviewing Journal Scope when considering any scope changes.

If you anticipate a scope change and would like to discuss any potential implications, please reach out to the Indexing Team and we will be happy to advise.

3. Indexing Timeline

For indexing services, title changes have both editorial implications and technical implications. While the technical title change process does not require input from publishing teams, you should be aware that the update will not be instantaneous. Once the first article is published under the new title, it may take around 3 months for indexing services to update their system and index this article. Here are a few factors that can contribute to this delay:

• The indexing service’s priority is to make sure that all content published under the previous title is indexed. Once a title has been changed, no further content published under the old title can be indexed.
• If the journal is changing ISSNs, these new ISSNs need to be registered on ISSN.org before indexing services make any changes
• Indexing services need to update their system to accept content published under the new title and ISSNs

Once we have confirmation the update process is complete, we will redeliver any content published in the interim to ensure seamless indexing.

4. Impact Factors

Once content from the new title is indexed, it may seem as if the old title is fully in the rearview. However, the title change will have a major effect on one important area for several years: the Journal Citation Report and its metrics (including Impact Factor). In the JCR, the new title and the previous title will be treated as two separate journals (although a note will be provided on the JCR pages indicating the title change). This means that Impact Factors and other metrics will be separately calculated for articles published under the old title and articles published under the new title. To get an idea of what this would look like in the years following the title change, have a look at this diagram from Clarivate. As indicated in the diagram, the new title will not receive a complete Impact Factor until its 3rd year of publication.

Alternately, Scopus’s CiteScore and Scimago’s SJR will be calculated by merging the records of the old title and the new title, meaning the metrics will not be split between the old and the new title. Please note however that the Scopus source list is only updated twice per year, and that Scimago will only update their records at the time of the annual SJR release.

If you have any questions or comments please reach out to us. Thank you!