Cabell’s Directories Selection Policy
GENERAL INFORMATION
This policy establishes the criteria for selecting journals for inclusion in Cabell’s Directories of Publishing
Opportunities. Inclusion in Cabell’s Directories is by invitation only. Cabell’s Review Board uses the criteria to
evaluate all journals for indexing in Cabell’s Directories.
SELECTION STANDARDS AND CRITERIA
The following criteria are used to evaluate and qualify journals for inclusion in Cabell’s Directories:
Audience
The audience for all publications indexed in Cabell’s Directories includes academics, administrators, business
persons, counselors, librarians, practicing teachers, and/or practitioners.
Relevance
To be considered for inclusion in Cabell’s Directories, journals must be directly related to the fields covered by
the database. The database spans all aspects of accounting, economics and finance, management, marketing,
educational curriculum and methods, education psychology and administration, educational technology and
library science, psychology and psychiatry, computer science and business information systems, health
administration, nursing, mathematics, astronomy, biological science, chemistry, geology, oceanography,
physics.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship by professional associations and organizations, and government agencies is considered, but not
required, in the evaluation process. Preference for inclusion in Cabell’s Directories is given to journals with
such sponsorship. The following information is considered in the evaluation of institutions, associations, and
organizations:
 History of the organization
 Membership of the organization, in size and credentials
 Structure, composition, and credentials of the governing body
 Organizational activities
 Publications and associated editorial policies
Quality
To be considered for inclusion in Cabell’s Directories, journals are subject to the following criteria:
 Integrity: Articles published in the journal must be sufficiently protected from unauthorized modifications or
falsifications.
 Objectivity: Articles published in the journal must be verified by a review process.
 Substantive Merit: Articles published in the journal must be professional and/or definitive.
 Utility/Importance: Articles published in the journal must be relevant to current priorities in its field and be
of interest to the academic community.
Peer-Review
Journals considered for inclusion are also subject to review of their editorial and peer-review policies and
processes. All of a journal’s content, apart from any editorial material that is clearly marked as such, shall be
subjected to peer review. Peer review is defined as obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from reviewers
expert in the field who are not part of the journal’s editorial staff. This process, as well as any policies related to
the journal’s peer review procedures, shall be clearly described on the journal’s web site. Specific
considerations and requirements include:
 The full names and affiliations of the journal’s editors must be provided on the journal’s web site as well as
contact information for the editorial office.
 Editorial boards or other governing bodies must be comprised of members who are recognized experts in the
subject areas included within the journal’s scope.
 Comprehensive written editorial policies must be clearly stated on the journal’s web site.
 Publication history of the journal
 Fidelity to ethical guidelines
 Adherence to editorial conventions
 Opportunity for authors to receive comments made by reviewers
 Methods of article selection and/or invitation
 Anonymous peer-review employing at least two reviewers per article is preferred
 Selectivity, as indicated by acceptance rates for submitted articles
Fees
 Any fees for reviewing and/or publishing in the journal are clearly stated on the journal’s web site in a place
that is easy for potential authors to find prior to submitting their manuscripts for review. If there are no
charges to authors, this should also be clearly indicated on the journal’s web site.
 Methods of journal’s finance and revenue sources are clearly stated on the journal’s web site, for example,
author fees, subscriptions, reprints, institutional/organizational support, government subsidy, membership
dues, advertising charges, fee based, etc.
 The way(s) in which the journal and individual articles are available to readers and whether there are
associated subscription or pay per view fees shall be stated.
Policies
 Comprehensive written publication ethics policies regarding research misconduct, conflicts of interest and
malpractice must be clearly stated on the journal’s web site.
 Comprehensive written archiving policies in the event that the journal is no longer published must be clearly
stated on the journal’s web site.
 Comprehensive written copyright and licensing policies must be clearly stated on the journal’s web site.
 Comprehensive written open access licensing policy must be clearly stated on the journal’s web site.
 Comprehensive written article retraction/correction policy must be clearly stated on the journal’s web site.
 Journals shall state their advertising policy if relevant, including what types of ads will be considered, who
makes decisions regarding accepting ads and whether they are linked to content or reader behavior (online
only) or are displayed at random.
Further Criteria
 The journal name shall be unique and not be one that is easily confused with another journal or that might
mislead potential authors and readers about the journal’s origin or association with other journals.
 Information about the ownership and/or management of a journal shall be clearly indicated on the journal’s
web site. Publishers shall not use organizational names that would mislead potential authors and editors
about the nature of the journal’s owner.
 Full contact information for the journal is clearly visible on the web site including a business address.
 Clear and detailed “Instructions for Authors” are present on the web site and easily located from the
homepage.
 ISSN’s are required and will be verified.
 All journals shall have a clear and functioning web site. Additionally, a journal’s web site shall be free of:
grammatical errors, prominent misspellings and/or non-functioning links.
 A complete list of abstracting and indexing services that cover the journal will be examined and verified.
 COPE, WAME, ICMJE, OASPA membership and/or other organizations regarding ethics in research and
publication will be considered.
 Any direct marketing activities used by the journal shall be unobtrusive and appropriate.
 Legal status of the publishing organization shall be disclosed, for example, whether it is a privately-owned or
public company, a not-for-profit organization or a charity.
 Whether or not the journal utilizes a plagiarism screening tool will be considered.