Web of Science Book Evaluation Process and Selection Criteria

The curation process for Web of Science Core Collection™ is unique: our editorial decisions are conducted by our expert in-house editors who have no affiliations to publishing houses or research institutes thus removing any potential bias or conflict of interest.

We use a single set of 18 criteria to evaluate books. These are designed to select for editorial rigor and best practice at the book level. Books selected for Book Citation Index (BKCI) must pass all criteria. Books that fail any of the editorial triage or editorial evaluation criteria will be rejected for coverage.

Description of Evaluation Steps and Criteria

Initial Triage

The principal purpose of this triage step is to ensure unambiguous identification of the books submitted for evaluation and to know who to contact if we have any queries or concerns. There is no embargo period for re-submission if books do not pass initial triage for issues that are resolvable.

ISBN

The ISBN is a unique identifier that signals a publisher’s intent for a publication to be considered as a book. Books are expected to clearly display all valid ISBNs associated with the title.

Book Title

The title of the book should be clearly and unambiguously stated.

Book Publisher

The publisher name must be clearly defined, and a verifiable, physical address (not P.O. Box) for the publisher’s business offices must be provided. The imprint under which a publisher publishes a book should be clearly identified.

Publication Year

The year of publication must be clearly stated.

Content Access

The Web of Science editorial team must have full access to the published content with all necessary permissions to view that content. The Web of Science will provide IP ranges if needed. Alternatively, publishers may provide a non-expiring username and password. For print-only books, access to a digitized version of the content must be arranged.

Contact Details

Contact details for the submitted book’s primary editorial and production roles must be provided to allow direct communication between the Web of Science and publisher staff.

Editorial Triage

In this step, the Web of Science editors review the book to determine whether a full editorial evaluation is merited. If a book does not pass this step, it is not eligible for re-submission.

Scholarly Content

The book must contain primarily original scholarly material. The academic level of the research reported should be appropriate to a graduate, post-doctoral and/or professional research audience.

Books dedicated to publishing conference proceedings should be submitted for evaluation for Conference Proceedings Citation Index.

Full Front Matter

Published books are expected to clearly and unambiguously present publisher name(s), publication dates, and related information at the outset of the publication and in a way accessible to all users.

Statement of Purpose

The book should be accompanied by a discussion of its author’s or editors’ intent, the argument made or research advanced, and how it achieved those goals. Such statements are often made in a book’s preface or introduction.

Language Requirements

Priority will be given to books presented in English; however, books presented in other languages will be considered if they are of interest to a sufficiently broad research community. Cited references, names, and affiliations must be published in Roman script to allow rapid, accurate indexing, and easy comprehension by our global users.

DOIs, Article Numbering, or Continuous Pagination

Sequential pagination, article numbers, or DOIs should be present to enable the identification of unique items of content.

Timeliness

Priority will be given to books published within the current and the previous year, but exceptions may be considered for completion of coverage.

Editor/Author Affiliation Details

Editors/Authors must be accurately identified. Names should be presented in the book. Institutional affiliations – including country/region – should be presented in the book or otherwise be readily available.

Editorial Evaluation

In this step, the Web of Science editors are checking for alignment between the book’s title, stated scope, and the expertise of its editors and authorship. They are also looking for evidence of editorial rigor and adherence to community standards. If books do not pass this step, re-submissions will not be considered.

Editor/Author Expertise

Editor and author affiliations and publication records must be consistent with the stated scope and purpose of the book.

Clarity of Language

For titles, abstracts, and all other published text presented in English, the language must be clear and comprehensible to a global audience.​

Content Relevance

The contents of a book must be consistent with its title and show focus and coherence. The academic level of the research reported should be appropriate for the intended community of the book.

Original Content

Books must primarily consist of original material or otherwise make a unique contribution to the literature.

Appropriate Citations to the Literature

It is expected that content will appropriately acknowledge the surrounding literature for the topic. Books that do not indicate citations will be considered non-scholarly and will be ineligible for evaluation.

How to submit

To submit a book, please email us at:

clarivateeditorialbookrequests@clarivate.com

Please note: only publishers can submit books and enquire about evaluation status.