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International publishing

Scopus, Web of Science, quartiles, DOI, ORCID and predatory journals.

09.11.2026Updated
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What the HAC requires from international publications

Rules from the official documents, with item numbers. Click a document to open it in Legislation.

A patent also counts

A patent for an invention or breeding achievement on the dissertation topic equals an article in a specialised publication of a foreign country where the field is developed.

Source: 2894, item 21

Degree without defence: physics, chemistry, biology

Specialised publications on the list of international scientific and technical databases need an impact factor of at least 1.0. Articles (2894, item 5): PhD 6, DSc 12.

Source: HAC 285/8.1

Degree without defence: economics

Specialised publications on the Scopus, Science Direct and Web of Science lists need an impact factor of at least 1.0. Articles (2894, item 5): PhD 6, DSc 12; 4 and 8 in social sciences and humanities.

Source: HAC 288/14.6

Fake index databases

Databases with artificially inflated metrics are banned: Global Impact Factor, General Impact Factor, Scientific Journal Impact Factor, Universal Impact Factor, Directory of Research Journals Indexing and others.

Source: Research ethics requirements, item 21

Checking a journal

Check in our tool first, then on the official site if needed.

Check a journal in secondsEnter a name or ISSN: HAC list, Scopus, quartile and DOAJ, with sources. The “Journal check” tool in the workspace. Open the tool

Check whether a journal is in Scopus

  1. 1Open the Scopus source list.
  2. 2Search for the journal by ISSN or title.
  3. 3Check the coverage years on the journal page: your paper's year must fall within them.
  4. 4Make sure the journal has not been discontinued from Scopus.
Check in the toolScopus Sources

Check Web of Science

  1. 1Open the Master Journal List.
  2. 2Search by ISSN or title.
  3. 3See which index it is in: SCIE, SSCI, AHCI or ESCI.
Master Journal List

Find the quartile (Q1–Q4)

  1. 1Enter the journal name or ISSN in the “Journal check” tool.
  2. 2You get the best quartile and the quartile for each subject area (SCImago 2025).
  3. 3For another year, see the SCImago site: quartiles vary by year and subject area.
  4. 4Web of Science quartiles (JCR) require a paid subscription.
Check in the toolSCImago Journal Rank

Spot a predatory journal

  1. 1First check the journal in the “Journal check” tool.
  2. 2Warning signs: very fast acceptance, publishing without peer review, a fake impact factor, demands for payment only.
  3. 3Check the ISSN on the ISSN Portal.
  4. 4Confirm the journal really is in Scopus or Web of Science as shown above.
  5. 5Be careful if the fake databases above are listed as indexes.
Check in the toolISSN Portal

For authors

Article and author identifiers.

Check a DOI

  1. 1Enter the DOI at doi.org.
  2. 2The link should lead to the paper itself.
  3. 3If nothing is found, check Crossref search.
doi.org

Get an ORCID

  1. 1Register for free at orcid.org.
  2. 2Add your papers to the profile via Crossref.
  3. 3Put your ORCID in papers and applications.
orcid.org

Basis and sources

Data is checked against these official sources.

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