1. CrossRef
Type: DOI registration and metadata linking
Purpose: Assigns persistent identifiers (DOIs) to articles and links them to metadata for easy citation and discovery.
Why it matters: Fundamental for digital referencing, citation tracking, and integration with other platforms.
2. Google Scholar
Type: Academic search engine
Scope: Broad coverage across all disciplines and languages.
Why it matters: Offers wide visibility; heavily used by global researchers and students.
3. Dimensions
By: Digital Science
Focus: Connects articles with grants, datasets, patents, and citation data.
Why it matters: Helps demonstrate research impact and links publications to funding sources.
4. OpenAIRE
Focus: European-funded open access research
Why it matters: Required by funders like Horizon Europe; integrates publications with institutional and funding data.
Discipline-Specific Indexing Platforms
5. Embase
Focus: Biomedical, pharmacology, clinical research, and drug-related literature
Why it matters: Widely used by regulatory agencies, healthcare systems, and pharmaceutical companies.
6. CINAHL (EBSCOhost)
Focus: Nursing and allied health sciences
Why it matters: The most comprehensive source for nursing and clinical healthcare research.
7. ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
Managed by: U.S. Department of Education
Focus: Education research, pedagogy, and policy
Why it matters: The primary database for educators and curriculum developers.
8. PsycINFO
By: American Psychological Association (APA)
Focus: Psychology and behavioral sciences
Why it matters: The most trusted index for mental health and psychology-related publications.
Regional and Thematic Indexes
9. SciELO
Focus: Scholarly literature from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and South Africa
Why it matters: Enhances visibility for journals in developing and regional markets.
10. AGRIS (FAO)
By: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Focus: Agricultural research, food security, and rural development
Why it matters: Important for journals focusing on sustainability and development.
11. Indian Citation Index (ICI)
Focus: Indian scholarly publications
Why it matters: Used in national research assessments and academic evaluations in India.
Complementary Metrics and Analytics Tools
12. Altmetric
Focus: Tracks social media, news coverage, and online engagement with scholarly content
13. PlumX Metrics (Elsevier)
Focus: Measures usage, mentions, captures, and citations across platforms
14. Journal Citation Reports (JCR)
By: Clarivate Analytics
Purpose: Provides Journal Impact Factors and detailed citation performance metrics