How to Check Web of Science Indexing: SCIE, SSCI, AHCI and ESCI
“SCI indexed journal” is a common phrase, but Web of Science is not a single index: SCIE, SSCI, AHCI and ESCI are distinct collections and are treated differently in academic evaluation. This guide shows how to verify which Web of Science collection a journal belongs to, and why an “SCI” claim very often means ESCI.
Web of Science is a family of collections, not one index
The four best-known collections in the Web of Science Core Collection are SCIE (science), SSCI (social sciences), AHCI (arts and humanities) and ESCI (Emerging Sources Citation Index). A journal may sit in only one of them.
The distinction matters because the Journal Impact Factor has traditionally been calculated for SCIE and SSCI titles; ESCI journals went without one for years. National promotion and incentive criteria also count these collections separately. “It is in WoS” is not the same statement as “it is in SCI”.
The authoritative source: the Master Journal List
The only authoritative source for a journal's collection is Clarivate's Master Journal List. Journal Check uses a snapshot of that list, matches the journal by ISSN, and reports the collection as a separate field.
Impact factor values are licensed data and scraping them is not permitted, so no JIF number is produced here. What is shown is which collection the official list places the journal in — that is the part that can be verified.
How to test an “SCI indexed” claim
- Take the journal's ISSN; never search by title alone.
- Read which collection it appears in: SCIE / SSCI / AHCI / ESCI.
- Calling a journal that appears only in ESCI “SCI indexed” is misleading.
- Compare the badge on the journal's site with the official list record.
- Collections change: a journal can move from ESCI to SCIE, and it can also be dropped.
- If you are being evaluated in Türkiye, check the UBYT list and the ÜAK criteria separately.
The hijacked-journal trap
Fake sites copy a real, reputable journal's title, ISSN and page design. An author submits there, pays a fee, and the article never appears in any index. Journal Check raises a separate warning for journals whose identity is known to have been hijacked.
That warning is NOT a negative judgement about the journal — the real journal is a victim too. Its purpose is to make you check twice that the address you are submitting to belongs to the genuine publisher.
Before you submit
- 1. Verify the collection by ISSN and keep a dated screenshot.
- 2. Confirm the journal's official address from the publisher's own domain.
- 3. If a fee is requested, get in writing at which stage and for what it is charged.
- 4. Check Scopus coverage separately; the two are independent.
- 5. Find out in advance which collection your institution's criteria actually count.
See the journal's collection
SCIE, SSCI, AHCI and ESCI distinguished, alongside Scopus coverage. Open Journal Check →