The Arabic Citation Index: Transforming local research into global impact

Exploring the value and power behind the new citation index for the Arabic region from Clarivate

 

Clarivate is building the Arabic Citation Index (ARCI)™ – the world’s first local language citation index for the Arabic world. The index will provide access to bibliographic information and citations to scholarly articles from a continuously expanding collection of more than 400 expertly curated Arabic journals, with language interface in both English and Arabic. It is now available to researchers and organizations across the globe.

Hosted on the Web of Science™ and funded by the Egyptian Government, the new index will make Arabic scholarly content more accessible, connecting it to more than 1.7 billion cited research references (dating back to 1864) and the highest quality, peer-reviewed scholarly content from across the globe. The indexing of Arabic publications will provide local scientific communities with improved routes to collaborating with national, regional and international research efforts – extending the Arabic academic footprint further than ever before.

 

How journals are selected for the Arabic Citation Index

The ARCI is now accepting journal submissions from editors of Arabic-language journals and has already seen strong submissions from Egypt (28%) and Algeria (24%), with Iraq (12%), Jordan (8%) and Saudi Arabia (7%) also well represented. We are committed to representing a broad range of quality research from the region and actively encourage interested journals to register here to be considered.

The regional journals covered in ARCI are selected by a newly established neutral editorial board. This board has representation from Arab League member countries, providing regional insights and subject knowledge.

The guiding principles of journal selection for the Arabic Citation Index are based on traditional scholarly publishing standards and the research norms of the region. All titles considered for the ARCI must have an ISSN and will receive a preliminary review or triage to confirm format, ISSNs and accessibility of the content.

Next the journal is reviewed by the editorial board to confirm that it is scholarly, with clear journal scope or mission, article abstracts, cited references, a clear relationship between the journal’s scope and its content, quality of article language consistent with scholarly communications and an editorial board that is reflective of the field of the journal. This selection process will ensure the quality of the ARCI, contributing to the overall value of the index within the Arabic region and broader world.

 

Bridging the gap between local scientific output and global impact

The ARCI is the fifth regional citation index developed by the Web of Science, alongside the Chinese Science Citation Database™, SciELO Citation Index™, Russian Science Citation Index™ and the KCI-Korean Journal Database™. With our decades of rich assets and experience combined with our unique data-driven and human-led approach to curation, we can create the trusted research data and unparalleled insights the research community needs to deliver scientific discovery, increased innovation and economic success.

The ARCI will enable us to evaluate the quality and research output of Arabic researchers, universities and research organizations. The indexing of Arabic publications will now provide our local scientific communities with the ability to contribute to not only national and regional research efforts but also connect research internationally, helping to extend the Arabic academic footprint further and enable the research community to solve the world’s most pressing and complex challenges.

 

Interested in being part of the Arabic Citation Index?

Submit your journal here

Get in touch with our team for information on how to subscribe.