CONTENTS

1. Scope and purpose
2. Definitions
3. Current indexing and abstracting services
4. Candidacies for indexing in progress
5. Persistent identifiers and metadata standards
6. Bibliometric transparency and authorized metrics
7. Update frequency and public notification
8. Normative references
9. Cross-references to the editorial policy framework

 

1. SCOPE AND PURPOSE

This Indexing and Abstracting Policy sets out the principles and commitments that govern the indexing strategy of European Gynecology and Obstetrics (EGO). The policy declares the Journal's current indexing and abstracting status, enumerates the databases and services in which the Journal is currently indexed or discoverable, identifies candidacies in progress, and describes the persistent identifier infrastructure and metadata standards adopted by the Journal.

The policy also establishes the principles of bibliometric transparency applicable to the Journal, including the responsible use of metrics in accordance with the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the standards of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). It identifies categories of indexing services that the Journal will not accept.

This Policy applies to Edikta S.r.l. in its capacity as Publisher, to the Editorial Office, and to the Editorial Board of the Journal. It is effective from the date of its adoption and is subject to annual review in accordance with Section 7.

2. DEFINITIONS

For this Policy, the following definitions apply:

Indexing.  The process by which a bibliographic database or abstracting and indexing (A&I) service registers, organizes, and makes searchable the metadata and/or full text of articles published by the Journal. Indexing enables readers, researchers, and librarians to discover the Journal's content through subject searches, citation tracking, and related tools.

Abstracting.  The process by which an index or database extracts, reformats, and stores the abstract, title, authors, and bibliographic data of individual articles, enabling discovery and evaluation without requiring access to the full text.

Persistent identifier.  A stable, long-term, globally unique reference to a digital resource (such as an article, author, or institution) that remains valid regardless of changes in URLs, institutional affiliations, or platform infrastructure.

Open citations.  Bibliographic reference data made freely available without restriction for access, analysis, and reuse, in accordance with the standards of the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC). Open citations are deposited with Crossref and accessible via the Crossref REST API under CC0 1.0 Universal.

Candidacy.  A formal or pre-formal engagement process initiated by the Publisher with a database or indexing service for the evaluation and potential inclusion of the Journal.

Confirmed indexing.  Inclusion in an indexing service or database that has been formally confirmed by the relevant service and is currently active. Confirmed indexing is the only status that may be represented on the Journal's website or in communications to authors as a current attribute of the Journal.

Discoverability.  The ability of the Journal's content to be found and retrieved by automated search tools, web crawlers, or metadata harvesters that do not issue formal indexing confirmations. Discoverability differs from confirmed indexing in that it depends on compliance with technical standards rather than a formal bilateral relationship between the Publisher and an indexing service.

Metadata harvesting.  The automated collection of bibliographic metadata from the Journal's platform by an authorized aggregator or indexing service, typically via the OAI-PMH protocol or an API.

3. CURRENT INDEXING AND ABSTRACTING SERVICES

The following table sets out the Journal's current confirmed indexing, discoverability, and related metadata dissemination services, along with the status of in-progress candidacies. The status column reflects the position as of the date of adoption of this policy and is updated upon each annual review in accordance with Section 7.

Database / Service	Status	Scope	Reference
Crossref	Active - new DOIs assigned by Edikta under prefix 10.11138 from issue 2/2026; legacy content retains its original DOIs as registered	DOI assignment (prefix 10.11138 for new content), metadata registration, open citations (I4OC) for Edikta-managed content	api.crossref.org; doi.org/10.11138
Google Scholar	Discoverable via automated crawling; not formally certified	Full-text and metadata indexing via OAI-PMH and open web crawling; inclusion subject to Google Scholar technical guidelines	scholar.google.com
OpenAIRE	Active (metadata dissemination)	OAI-PMH metadata harvesting for European Open Science ecosystem; not a peer-reviewed bibliographic index	openaire.eu
Keepers Registry (CIEPS)	Registered	Preservation registry entry confirming archiving coverage; not a bibliographic index	keepers.issn.org (eISSN 2710-2580)
DOAJ	Candidacy planned	Application under preparation; primary OA indexing objective	doaj.org
Scopus	Candidacy planned	Application to be submitted after confirmed DOAJ inclusion (Publisher's strategic milestone)	scopus.com
Web of Science - ESCI	Candidacy planned	Application planned as subsequent step; Scopus confirmation not a formal ESCI prerequisite	clarivate.com/wos
PubMed Central (PMC)	Candidacy planned (medium-term)	Pre-application requirements being monitored; NLM formal application to follow	pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The following sections provide detailed provisions on the most significant indexing and abstracting relationships.

3.1  Crossref.  The Journal is a member of Crossref. From issue 2/2026 onward, Edikta S.r.l., as the current publisher, assigns a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to every newly published article, correction, retraction, and expression of concern using the Crossref prefix 10.11138. The DOI is assigned at the time of article acceptance and registered with Crossref, thereby making it resolvable upon first online publication, which, for every article, is its publication in the Online First section of the Journal website, as provided in the Submission Guidelines. The Publisher is also responsible for the online hosting, preservation, accessibility, and technical management of the Journal's historical backfile: articles published before the transfer of publishing responsibilities retain their original bibliographic record, publication history, DOIs as registered, and associated metadata, and no new DOIs are assigned to previously published articles. Where applicable, Edikta may update the article landing pages, platform URLs, and Crossref metadata records to ensure persistent access, correct DOI resolution, long-term discoverability, and continuity of the scholarly record, without altering the original publication status of those articles. Full bibliographic metadata for each article - including title, authors (with ORCID iDs where provided), institutional affiliations (with ROR identifiers where available), abstract, keywords, funding information, CRediT contributor roles, license terms, and Data Availability Statement - are deposited with Crossref at the time of publication and updated upon each post-publication modification. The Journal's metadata are made openly available under a CC0 1.0 Universal waiver through the Crossref REST API.

3.2  I4OC open citations.  In accordance with the standards of the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC), the Journal deposits reference data with Crossref and makes those data openly available for machine-readable use for all content managed directly by Edikta S.r.l. The Publisher is progressively aligning the reference data of previously published content to Crossref and I4OC open citation standards. Open citation data support the construction of citation networks, scientometric research, and bibliometric analysis, and are accessible via the Crossref REST API.

3.3  Google Scholar.  The Journal's published content is discoverable through Google Scholar via automated crawling of the Journal's website (egojournal.eu) and OAI-PMH endpoint. Google Scholar indexes content automatically in accordance with its technical guidelines and does not issue formal certification of journal inclusion. Discoverability in Google Scholar is maintained through compliance with Google Scholar's guidelines for authors and publishers, including structured metadata markup, stable URLs, and open access to full-text content. The Publisher periodically verifies that the Journal's articles are retrievable in Google Scholar.

3.4  OpenAIRE.  The Journal's article-level metadata are registered with the OpenAIRE infrastructure via the OAI-PMH endpoint of the Journal's OJS platform. OpenAIRE serves as a metadata aggregation and interoperability platform within the European Open Science ecosystem and supports compliance with the open access requirements of Horizon Europe and the European Research Council. OpenAIRE is a metadata dissemination service and does not constitute a peer-reviewed bibliographic index.

3.5  Keepers Registry.  The Journal is registered in the Keepers Registry, the international registry of journal preservation services maintained by CIEPS (the International Center for the Registration of Serial Publications). The Keepers Registry entry documents the digital preservation coverage of the Journal and is accessible at keepers.issn.org for eISSN 2710-2580. The Keepers Registry is a preservation registry and does not constitute a bibliographic abstracting and indexing service.

4. CANDIDACIES FOR INDEXING IN PROGRESS

The Journal is pursuing indexing with the following major bibliographic databases in a planned, sequential manner. The sequence reflects the Publisher's strategic priorities for developing the Journal's visibility and scholarly standing and does not necessarily mirror formal dependency requirements imposed by the databases concerned.

4.1  Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).  The application for inclusion in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is the Journal's highest-priority indexing objective. DOAJ is the primary reference index for diamond and gold open-access journals and is widely recognized as a quality indicator in open-access scholarly publishing. The Journal's complete set of editorial policies, published at egojournal.eu, is designed to demonstrate full compliance with the DOAJ Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Confirmed DOAJ inclusion represents a significant quality and transparency milestone that the Publisher has set as a prerequisite for the Journal's Scopus candidacy, in accordance with the Editorial Policy Framework.

4.2  Scopus (Elsevier).  The Journal is preparing a candidacy for inclusion in Scopus, Elsevier's comprehensive abstract and citation database for the life sciences and health sciences. While confirmed DOAJ inclusion is not a formal prerequisite imposed by the Scopus Content Selection and Advisory Board (CSAB), the Publisher has established it as its own prerequisite milestone before submitting the Scopus candidacy. Submission to the CSAB will follow upon satisfaction of the applicable pre-application requirements, including a verified record of regular publication. The Journal monitors the Scopus Source Evaluation Criteria and has designed its editorial policy infrastructure to address the CSAB requirements regarding peer-review transparency, editorial board composition, publication ethics, and regularity of publication. Following Scopus's removal of the mandatory two-year publication history requirement in 2024, the Journal may submit its application at an earlier stage than previously anticipated; however, the CSAB still requires a sufficient volume of published content and a demonstrable publication record to enable meaningful evaluation.

4.3  PubMed and PubMed Central (PMC).  Inclusion in PubMed Central (PMC), the free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature operated by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is a medium-term objective of the Publisher. PMC pre-application requirements, including a verified publication record of at least 25 peer-reviewed articles and conformity with NLM's Collection Development Guidelines, are being monitored and progressively satisfied. In addition to article-level requirements, NLM evaluates publishers for a demonstrated history of quality scholarly publishing in the biomedical or life sciences field, or equivalent evidence of editorial and operational expertise. Upon acceptance, PMC indexing would additionally support MEDLINE candidacy as a subsequent step and align the Journal with the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy (effective July 2025), which requires immediate, embargo-free deposit of NIH-funded articles in PMC.

4.4  Web of Science (Clarivate).  The Publisher currently intends to prioritize Scopus submission before submitting an application to the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) of Web of Science, operated by Clarivate. Scopus inclusion is not a formal prerequisite for ESCI evaluation; this sequencing reflects the Publisher's own strategic prioritization. ESCI serves as the standard entry pathway for journals in their development phase, providing visibility within the Web of Science ecosystem and establishing the citation data foundation necessary for potential progression to the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) upon meeting sufficient bibliometric performance indicators.

5. PERSISTENT IDENTIFIERS AND METADATA STANDARDS

The following table summarises the persistent identifier infrastructure adopted by the Journal.

Identifier	Issuing Organisation	Scope of Application	Status
DOI (Digital Object Identifier)	Crossref, prefix 10.11138	Every published article, correction, retraction, expression of concern	Active - assigned at acceptance, registered at Online First publication, under EdiCites prefix 10.11138 from issue 2/2026; legacy content retains its original DOIs as registered
ORCID	Open Researcher and Contributor ID (orcid.org)	Strongly recommended for all submitting authors; embedded in Crossref metadata	Active (strongly encouraged)
ROR (Research Organization Registry)	Research Organization Registry (ror.org)	Institutional affiliations of authors where available	Active
eISSN	ISSN International Center (CIEPS)	Journal-level identifier: eISSN 2710-2580	Registered
I4OC open citations	Initiative for Open Citations; Crossref	Reference data for articles managed by Edikta; progressive alignment of historical content	Active for Edikta-managed content; backfile alignment in progress

The following sections provide the provisions governing each identifier and the associated metadata standards.

5.1  DOI (Digital Object Identifier).  A unique DOI is assigned to every newly published article, correction, retraction, and expression of concern using the Crossref prefix 10.11138, with effect from issue 2/2026. The DOI is assigned at the time of article acceptance and communicated to the corresponding author in the acceptance notification. Registration with Crossref, and consequent resolution of the identifier, is performed at the time of first online publication, which corresponds to publication in the Online First section of the Journal website. The identifier is structured independently of the volume, issue, and page range subsequently assigned to the article; upon assignment of the article to a numbered issue, the same DOI is retained, the landing page URL remains unchanged, and the Crossref metadata record is updated with the bibliographic details of the issue. No second DOI is assigned to an article at any stage. Articles published before the transfer of publishing responsibilities retain their original DOIs as registered; no new DOIs are assigned to previously published articles, and Edikta S.r.l. maintains correct DOI resolution and persistent access for that legacy content. DOI resolution ensures permanent citability regardless of any future changes to the Journal's platform URL structure. The DOI is displayed on the article's landing page, in the PDF and HTML versions of the article, and in all metadata deposited with indexing services. DOIs assigned to corrections and retractions are permanently linked to the original article record, as specified in the Corrections and Retractions Policy.

5.2  ORCID.  The Journal strongly encourages all submitting and contributing authors to provide their ORCID iD (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) upon submission. ORCID iDs included in submissions are embedded in the article's Crossref metadata and in the JATS XML record, enabling unambiguous identification of researchers across institutions and publications. The Authorship Policy and the Submission Guidelines govern provisions for ORCID collection and display.

5.3  ROR (Research Organization Registry).  Institutional affiliations of authors are recorded and deposited using the ROR identifier where available, in compliance with Crossref and OpenAIRE metadata standards. ROR identifiers enable machine-readable matching of authorship to institutions and support funder compliance reporting, national research assessment exercises, and institutional-level bibliometric analysis.

5.4  ISSN.  The Journal is registered with the ISSN International Centre (CIEPS) with the electronic ISSN 2710-2580. The eISSN serves as the primary journal-level identifier in all bibliographic metadata, database records, and communications with indexing services.

5.5  Metadata openness and interoperability.  Article-level bibliographic metadata are deposited with Crossref and made freely available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication) waiver, consistent with Crossref member standards and the I4OC initiative for Edikta-managed content. Metadata are disseminated through the following channels: (a) OAI-PMH interface, exposing Dublin Core and JATS XML formats for harvesting by authorized aggregators; (b) Crossref REST API, providing machine-readable access to full bibliographic metadata; (c) JATS XML v1.4 (NISO ANSI/NISO Z39.96-2024), the structured machine-readable format being progressively implemented as the target format for all articles, consistent with the commitment set out in the Digital Preservation Policy; (d) DOAJ article-level metadata feed, upon confirmed DOAJ inclusion. Further provisions on metadata archiving are contained in the Open Access Policy (Section 9) and the Digital Preservation Policy (Section 7).

6. BIBLIOMETRIC TRANSPARENCY AND AUTHORISED METRICS

6.1  DORA alignment.  The Journal adheres to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) as a statement of editorial principle. The Journal does not use any single bibliometric indicator, including the Journal Impact Factor, as the sole criterion for assessing scientific quality, editorial merit, or the performance of individual researchers. This principle is elaborated in the Editorial Policy Statement (Section 19). Bibliometric data are used as complementary indicators of visibility and scholarly impact, always in conjunction with qualitative criteria of scientific merit, originality, and relevance to the discipline.

6.2 Authorized bibliometric indicators.  Where the Journal publicly reports bibliometric data on its website, in editorial communications, or in promotional materials, it may display only indicators from the following authorized sources, as set out in the DOAJ Guide to Applying:

(a)           Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and related metrics from the Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics);

(b)           CiteScore, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), and Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) from Scopus (Elsevier);

(c)           the Google Scholar h5-index;

(d)           Altmetric attention scores;

(e)           Crossref Event Data and article-level citation counts;

(f)            national accreditation lists where officially recognized (e.g., the Norwegian Register).

The Journal does not display impact factors, rankings, or bibliometric indicators from any service not listed above.

6.3  Prohibition of unreliable indexing services.  The Journal does not seek and will not accept inclusion in indexes or databases that do not comply with internationally recognized standards of quality and transparency for scholarly publishing, including predatory, deceptive, or misrepresenting indexing services. In assessing whether a service meets applicable standards, the Journal refers to the definitions and best practice criteria established by DOAJ, COPE, and the OASPA Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Any representation of the Journal's indexing status on its website, in promotional materials, or in correspondence with authors reflects only confirmed, active indexing relationships as defined in Section 2 and described in Section 3. Candidacies as described in Section 4 are represented as such and are clearly distinguished from confirmed indexing.

7. UPDATE FREQUENCY AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

7.1  Annual review.  This Policy is reviewed annually as part of the Journal's policy review cycle. The review encompasses: (a) the current operational status of all indexing and metadata dissemination relationships described in Section 3; (b) the progress of candidacies listed in Section 4; (c) any changes in the persistent identifier infrastructure; (d) any relevant developments in international standards for journal indexing, metadata, and bibliometric assessment. The outcome of each annual review is reflected in the next version of this policy, with version history recorded in Section 10.

7.2  Public notification of indexing changes.  Any material change in the Journal's indexing status - including new confirmed inclusions, changes in scope or coverage, discontinuation of an existing indexing relationship, or withdrawal from a database - is communicated through a public announcement on the Journal's official website (egojournal.eu) within 30 calendar days of the change becoming effective. The updated status is simultaneously reflected in the indexing table in Section 3 through an interim update, with full revision at the next annual review. Any change in indexing status that affects the funder compliance commitments declared in the Open Access Policy is communicated in accordance with the notification provisions of the Open Access Policy.

7.3  Prospective indexing developments.  As the Journal progresses through the planned sequence of indexing applications described in Section 4, the Editorial Office undertakes to communicate confirmed inclusions promptly to the Journal's authors, Editorial Board members, and scientific societies, and to reflect changes in all relevant policy documents.

8. NORMATIVE REFERENCES

This Policy has been drafted with reference to the following international standards, guidelines, and authoritative sources:

-                DOAJ - Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (DOAJ / OASPA / COPE / WAME, current version)

-                DOAJ - Guide to Applying (current version), https://doaj.org/apply/guide/

-                DORA - San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (2012), https://sfdora.org

-                Crossref - Member Standards and DOI Assignment Guidelines, https://www.crossref.org

-                Scopus - Source Evaluation Criteria, Content Selection and Advisory Board (CSAB), current version

-                NLM - PubMed Central Application and Evaluation Process, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

-                NLM - Collection Development Guidelines, National Library of Medicine

-                Clarivate - Web of Science Journal Evaluation and Selection Guidelines

-                I4OC - Initiative for Open Citations, https://i4oc.org

-                ISSN - International Standard Serial Number (ISO 3297)

-                NISO - ANSI/NISO Z39.96-2024 (JATS XML v1.4, Journal Article Tag Suite)

-                OpenAIRE Guidelines for Literature Repository Managers, https://guidelines.openaire.eu

-                Europe PMC, https://europepmc.org

-                Keepers Registry, CIEPS, https://keepers.issn.org

-                ORCID, https://orcid.org

-                ROR - Research Organization Registry, https://ror.org

-                NIH - 2024 Public Access Policy (effective July 2025), https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/public-access

-                COPE - Core Practices (2019, current version), https://publicationethics.org

9. CROSS-REFERENCES TO THE EDITORIAL POLICY FRAMEWORK

This Policy should be read in conjunction with the following documents of the EGO Editorial Policy Framework:

-                Editorial Policy Statement, Section 19 - Responsible use of metrics and adherence to DORA

-                Open Access Policy, Section 9 - Metadata openness, persistent identifiers, and interoperability

-                Digital Preservation Policy, Sections 3, 7, and 14 - Preservation services, metadata archiving, and Keepers Registry

-                Authorship Policy - ORCID provisions and contributor role identification

-                Submission Guidelines - ORCID and ROR collection provisions at submission

-                Author Fees and Publication Charges Policy - Diamond OA model and funder compliance

-                Corrections and Retractions Policy - DOI linking provisions for post-publication notices