Top 10 Research Databases for UGC CARE Journals List 2026: A Complete Guide for Indian Scholars

Each of the databases below has been evaluated on seven parameters: what it is, what it covers, its credibility, indexing value, citation tracking facilities, relevance to Indian scholars, and the real limitations. Use this guide whenever you are considering a journal.

1. Scopus (Elsevier)

Website: https://www.scopus.com

Scopus is an international abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed research, developed by Elsevier in 2004. It includes journals, books, and conference papers across major disciplines.

Coverage

Science, medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities with inclusion of global publishers.

Credibility & Recognition

Journals are reviewed by an independent advisory board regarding the quality of peer review, editorial standards, consistency, and citation performance. Delisting can take place in poor-quality journals.

Indexing Value

Well known in the scholarly community; more all-inclusive than Web of Science. Gives CitedScore to allow comparison of journals across disciplines.

Citation Tracking

Provides h-index, citation counts, co-authorship mapping, and metrics such as CiteScore, SJR and SNIP.

Why It Matters (India)

This is necessary in the UGC CARE Group 1 classification, and is often required in API scores, PhD submissions, NAAC evaluations and research grants.

Note

Not all coverage is uniform- always be sure that your publication year is being actively indexed.

2. Web of Science (Clarivate)

Website: https://clarivate.com

Web of Science is one of the oldest and most selective citation databases, originally developed by Eugene Garfield through the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), which was incorporated and formally named in 1960. It is now managed by Clarivate. It is arranged into SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, and ESCI indexes of all major academic disciplines.

Coverage

Covering peer-reviewed journals and some conference proceedings in sciences, social sciences and humanities, with a high level of global English-language coverage.

Credibility & Recognition

They are selected on the basis of the citation impact and long-term research performance. UGC, DST-SERB, ICMR, and international funding agencies are widely recognised for it. Only Web of Science produces the Journal Impact Factor (JIF).

Indexing Value

SCIE and SSCI are high-ranking indexes with a strong academic weight, and ESCI is an entry-level category that lacks academic weight in certain institutions. Generally, SCIE/SSCI is more selective than Scopus.

Citation Tracking

Offers JIF, Journal Citation Indicator (JCI), and elaborate author citation profiles. It is possible to check journals with the help of the free Master Journal List.

Why It Matters (India)

Journals that are indexed in SCIE are well appreciated in DST funding, ICMR grants, and UGC promotions. They are frequently needed in IITs, IISERs, and central universities.

Note

Under most evaluation systems, the academic weight of an ESCI journal is not equal to that of SCIE/SSCI. Before submitting, always ensure that you have the correct index category.

3. PubMed / MEDLINE (U.S. National Library of Medicine)

Website: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

PubMed is a free, publicly-accessible biomedical database maintained by NCBI under the name of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). Its main curated subset is MEDLINE, which is selected by a stringent evaluation process by the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC).

Coverage

Biomedical sciences, life sciences, clinical medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and allied health. Includes journal articles, clinical trials, systematic reviews, and case reports. Good coverage of the world, with good representation by the US, Europe, and increasing contributions by Asia.

Free check through PubMed and NLM Catalogue.

Credibility and Recognition

MEDLINE is a very reputable biomedical index. An external expert committee is the one that selects journals based on their scientific coverage, editorial quality and quality of production. It is acknowledged under UGC CARE Group 1 and has been commonly adopted by ICMR, NMC, and other health agencies as a quality benchmark.

Indexing Value

MEDLINE indexing is of a higher standard than the general PubMed listing. Although PubMed might contain other PMC content, only MEDLINE journals are fully reviewed by LSTRC. This enhances MEDLINE as a more powerful international standard of biomedical quality.

Citation Tracking

PubMed does not produce citation measures. Nonetheless, journals that are indexed in MEDLINE are monitored by Web of Science (SCIE) and Scopus. PubMed offers MeSH indexing and citation linking, whereas tools such as WoS or Google Scholar are required to perform citation analysis. The verification of the journal can be done through the NLM Catalogue.

Why It Matters among Indian Scholars

PubMed in India is one of the important standards of research in medical and health sciences. It is also commonly used in ICMR assessments, NMC faculty promotions, and admission requirements in medical, dental, pharmacy, and nursing schools. The fact that it is free is also advantageous to researchers in state colleges and resource-constrained colleges.

Note

PubMed is biomedical only and not relevant for non-medical fields. Also, PubMed ≠ MEDLINE; PMC content may be included. Always verify MEDLINE status for academic credit.

4. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

Website: https://doaj.org

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a selective index of peer-reviewed open access journals, launched in 2003 at Lund University with an initial collection of around 300 journals, and is widely used as a quality filter for legitimate open access publishing.

Coverage

All areas of study, such as sciences, medicine, engineering, social sciences, and humanities. It consists of peer-reviewed open-access journals available worldwide through doaj.org.

Credibility and Recognition

DOAJ has stringent selection criteria, including peer review, transparency, licensing, and editorial quality. Journals of superior quality are awarded the DOAJ Seal. It is identified in UGC CARE (primarily Group 2) and is used to check the compliance of open access in research funding.

Indexing Value

DOAJ certifies that a journal is a legitimate open-access journal and not a predatory journal, but does not measure the citation impact of a journal as Scopus or Web of Science would.

Citation Tracking

No measures of direct citation. The journal should be verified through Scopus or Web of Science to get citation information. DOAJ offers such metadata as ISSN, publisher, and OA status.

Why It Matters (India)

Applicable to low-resource Indian scholars in low-resource institutions. Numerous DOAJ journals are free to publish and provide greater access to research. It promotes group 2 publications of the UGC CARE Group.

Note

DOAJ is not an indication of citation strength or world ranking. To be considered a high-impact academic credit, it is not sufficient to be listed alone.

5. ERIH PLUS

Website: https://erihplus.hkdir.no

ERIH PLUS is a selective list of peer-reviewed journals in the humanities and social sciences, which is maintained by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. It was initially designed by the European Science Foundation.

Coverage

Spans fields such as history, linguistics, philosophy, sociology, education, law, and political science. It also contains international journals, and there is a high level of inclusion of non-English journals, as well as regional journals that are often missed by Scopus and Web of Science.

Credibility and Recognition

ERIH PLUS reviews journals according to the standards of peer review and editors. It is widely used in Europe as a reference for validating humanities and social science research.

Indexing Value

In contrast to the citation-based databases, ERIH PLUS is more focused on quality validation over impact metrics, thus being more appropriate in the humanities, where impact metrics are inherently lower.

Citation Tracking

None of the citation statistics or author tracking. Citation information should be verified independently through Scopus or Web of Science (where possible).

Why It Matters (India)

It is among the few internationally recognised humanities and social sciences indexes in India, particularly useful in areas such as literature, sociology, and philosophy, where other databases are limited.

Note

It is less frequently covered by Indian institutional evaluation systems than by Scopus or Web of Science, and is therefore frequently confirmed by IQAC.

6. Embase (Elsevier)

Website: https://www.embase.com

Embase is a biomedical and pharmacological abstract database, which is maintained by Elsevier. Embase was launched in 1974 as the electronic version of the Excerpta Medica abstract journals, which themselves date back to 1946.

The title Excerpta Medica is now one of the most valuable sources of drug research, clinical trials, and pharmacovigilance.

Coverage

It covers pharmacology, toxicology, clinical medicine, psychiatry, and drug safety data, as well as pharmacological and toxicological journal articles, conference abstracts, and drug safety data.

Credibility

Meets high selection criteria and has high overlap with Scopus. Famous in Cochrane Collaboration and EMA in terms of systematic reviews and drug safety studies.

Indexing Value

This is a highly relevant index in clinical as well as pharmaceutical research, particularly when it comes to systematic reviews and regulatory studies. The recognition of Indian works is usually correlated with Scopus indexing.

Citation Tracking

Provides powerful search features such as PICO-based queries. CiteScore and SJR are also available with Scopus for most of the indexed journals.

Why It Matters

Important for pharmaceutical and clinical researchers in India, especially in drug trials and international medical collaborations.

Note

Not freely available and by subscription only, which restricts its availability in many Indian institutions.

7. ProQuest

Website: https://www.proquest.com

ProQuest is a multidisciplinary research database that operates primarily as a content aggregator. It gives access to journals, dissertations, newspapers, ebooks, and specialised academic databases. It is also famed as a home to ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, one of the largest repositories of graduate research in the world.

Coverage

Covering business, education, humanities, social sciences, STEM, health sciences, and library science through subject-specific databases. It contains journal articles, dissertations, conference papers, newspapers, ebooks, and archives with a global coverage.

Credibility and Recognition

ProQuest is not a selective index of citations, such as Scopus or Web of Science. It is credible because the databases it has are of high quality, particularly dissertations and academic archives. It is not listed separately as a citation index under UGC CARE.

Indexing Value

ProQuest is more of an access and discovery site, rather than a site that validates the quality of the journal. Thus, its listing does not vouch for journal credibility to academic credit or API assessment.

Citation Tracking

It fails to include such citation measures as JIF or CiteScore. Any citation analysis should be performed using Scopus or Web of Science. ProQuest is dedicated to content access as opposed to bibliometrics.

The Why It Matters of Indian Scholars'

Practical in literature reviews in business, education, and social sciences. It is particularly useful in its dissertation database, which allows one to access the global academic research. It is available in many Indian universities through the INFLIBNET.

Note

Inappropriate to check the quality of journals in the context of UGC CARE or API. It is a mixed content aggregator with an average quality of content and can only be accessed by institutions through subscription.

8. EBSCO

Website: https://www.ebsco.com

EBSCO Information Services is an American content aggregator that offers access to various academic databases in its EBSCO Discovery Service. Relevant sources are Academic Search Ultimate, Business Source Complete, PsycINFO, ERIC and CINAHL.

Coverage

Covering multidisciplinary areas such as nursing and allied health (CINAHL), business, psychology, and education. It encompasses peer-reviewed journals, magazines, newspapers, ebooks, and trade publications that cover a strong global (particularly US and European) coverage. The NKRC network of INFLIBNET is accessed by many Indian universities.

Credibility and Recognition

EBSCO is mainly an access-based platform, rather than a selective indexing platform. The majority of its databases fail to implement journal selection in the same manner as Scopus or Web of Science. CINAHL, however, is a well-known exception as it is a subject-specific indexed database and is well known in nursing and allied health research the world over.

Indexing Value

The listing at EBSCO does not equate to academic indexing or quality approval. It is merely an indication of content accessibility via subscription deals. Recognised standards of editorial selection are only in subject-specific indexes such as CINAHL.

Citation Tracking

EBSCO does not offer official citation rates such as JIF or CiteScore. Some databases provide limited citation data, although a complete bibliometric analysis should be performed using Scopus or Web of Science. Its main functionality is access to content and search capabilities.

The Importance of It to Indian Scholars

EBSCO is popular in Indian universities to access international journals, particularly in nursing, education, psychology, and business studies. CINAHL is relevant especially to the nursing and allied health researchers, whereas ERIC supports the research on education.

Note

EBSCO cannot be considered similar to Scopus or Web of Science to evaluate UGC CARE or API. A number of the listed journals are not independently indexed, and thus, they must be verified using official indexing databases.

9. IEEE Xplore (IEEE)

Website: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org

IEEE Xplore is the online library of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), one of the major professional organizations in the world in the field of engineering and technology. It publishes IEEE journals and conference proceedings, technical standards and partner publications like the IET.

Coverage

Covers electrical engineering, electronics, computer science, telecommunications, robotics, control systems, and other areas. Content includes peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, and technical standards with a high global research representation.

Credibility and Recognition

IEEE journals are well recognized worldwide due to their high quality of peer review and editorial. They are accepted under UGC CARE Group 1 and are commonly used in academic assessment in institutions which are affiliated with AICTE. Most of the IEEE journals are also covered in Scopus and Web of Science.

Indexing Value

IEEE Journal publications are highly academic, particularly the Transactions and Letters series. Nevertheless, IEEE conference papers (as reputable as they are) are not necessarily considered the same as journal publications in terms of API credit in Indian institutions.

Citation Tracking

IEEE Xplore offers article-level references and usage statistics. Web of Science and Scopus offer journal-level metrics, such as JIF and CitedScore.

What Matters to Indian Scholars

IEEE is a fundamental platform on which engineering research in India is undertaken, in particular in the IITs, NITs, and AICTE institutions. It is important in the evaluation of faculty, visibility of the research, and national ranking systems such as NIRF.

Note

IEEE Xplore Conference papers are confused with journal publications, thus causing problems with API scoring. It is always good to check institutional guidelines prior to submission.

10. Indian Citation Index (ICI)

Website: http://www.indiancitationindex.com

Indian Citation Index is an India-specific citation indexing service that aims to enhance the visibility of Indian scholarly journals and monitor citations within local research. It was created as a filler where the lack of international databases, such as Scopus or Web of Science, does not cover many good Indian journals.

Coverage

ICI publishes multidisciplinary Indian journals in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering, medicine, and management. It is interested in peer-reviewed journals published in India and monitors their citation statistics in the Indian scholarly environment.

Credibility and Recognition

ICI enjoys a special status as the sole citation index in India. It tracks some of the UGC CARE Group 2 journals. Nevertheless, it lacks the same degree of global respect as Scopus or Web of Science and has been critiqued for having inconsistencies in updates and coverage.

Indexing Value

ICI indexing is used to show that a journal belongs to a national scholarly monitoring system. Its value is mostly in India and cannot be compared with international indexing to gain international academic recognition or to apply for grants.

Citation Tracking

ICI offers citation information and author-level reports to indexed journals. It also creates the Indian Citation Score (ICS), which can be used to compare the performance of citations in the Indian journals, where global measures may not be present.

Why It Matters to Indian Scholars

ICI finds application in fields where there are good Indian journals, but where these journals are not indexed internationally, such as regional studies, law, and some social sciences. It can be used to support API credit according to UGC CARE Group 2, and it can be used to analyse the output of Indian research.

Note

ICI is not popular in terms of international academic assessment. The data consistency and recognition is limited as compared to international indexes, and thus it is only an adjunct tool and not a first publication focus.

Summary Comparison: All 10 Databases at a Glance

Database	Subject Focus	Free / Paid	UGC CARE Status	Citation Metric	Best For
Scopus	Multidisciplinary	Verification-free; full text paid	Yes — Group 1	CiteScore, SJR, SNIP	All-round journal quality check
Web of Science	Multidisciplinary	Verification-free; full text paid	Yes — Group 1	JIF via JCR, JCI	Impact factor and SCIE recognition
PubMed / MEDLINE	Biomedical, Health	Free	Yes — Group 1	Via WoS / Scopus	Medical and life sciences
DOAJ	All disciplines (OA)	Free	Partially — Group 2	None (via Scopus)	Open access journal selection
ERIH PLUS	Humanities, Social Sciences	Free	Yes — recognised	None	Humanities and social sciences
Embase	Biomedical, Pharmacology	Paid	Indirect (Scopus overlap)	Via Scopus	Drug research, clinical reviews
ProQuest	Multidisciplinary	Paid (INFLIBNET)	No — aggregator	None	Dissertations, business research
EBSCO	Multidisciplinary	Institutional (INFLIBNET)	No — aggregator	None	Nursing, allied health, business
IEEE Xplore	Engineering, CS	Verification-free; full text paid	Yes — Group 1	Via WoS / Scopus	Engineering and computer science
Indian Citation Index	All disciplines (India)	Paid (institutional)	Supplementary	Indian Citation Score	India-specific journal tracking

How to Check If a Journal Is Indexed — Step-by-Step Guide

Step-by-Step 1: Verify the UGC CARE Journals List 2026

1. Simply open the official portal.

Enter open https://www.ugc.gov.in into your browser. Do not use any third-party site - cached or out-of-date lists have made scholars lose API credit.

2. Choose your category of subject.

The UGC CARE list is sorted in terms of discipline. Navigate to the appropriate group for your discipline.

3. In the journal title or ISSN search.

Enter the title of the exact journal or ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) to obtain accurate results.

4. Ascertain Group 1 or Group 2 status.

Record the group that the journal is in. Check the date of the verification - the list is periodically updated, and journals can be removed. Take a screenshot of the result with the date showing to keep a record of the same.

Step-by-Step 2: Check Scopus Indexing

1. Go to https://www.scopus.com

Click on the Sources menu at the top. This is freely available without a subscription.

2. Search by title or ISSN.

Type in the complete name or ISSN of the journal. In case the journal fails to appear, it is not listed in Scopus.

3. Confirm Active status.

This step is usually committed. When you locate the journal, make sure that the status of the journal is recorded as Active and that the start and end of coverage are noted.

A journal with an Inactive or a coverage end date that is prior to your submission year will ensure that your article is not indexed.

4. Confirm on the topic area and publisher.

Establish the registered publisher of the journal. It conforms to expectations - occasionally, predatory journals pretend to be legitimate titles.

Step-by-Step 3: Check Web of Science Indexing

1. Access the Master Journal List.

Go to https://clarivate.com – this is Clarivate's free, official verification tool.

2. Journal title or ISSN search.

Results will indicate which WoS index the journal belongs to—SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI, or others.

3. Observe the index tier.

SCIE and SSCI are the most highly recognized for Indian academic and grant purposes. ESCI is the emerging tier — before targeting an ESCI-only journal, check with your institution as to whether ESCI publications receive the same API credit as SCIE or SSCI.

Step-by-Step 4: Identify and Avoid Predatory Journals

1. Your first filter should be https://thinkchecksubmit.org

This independently maintained checklist guides you through a structured evaluation of any journal – from peer review transparency, editorial board visibility, publisher identity and contact legitimacy.

2. Cross-check with UGC CARE portal & Scopus.

A journal not appearing in either one is not necessarily predatory, but its absence is a risk signal that warrants additional investigation.

3. Know the Beall's List.

The original Beall’s List of predatory publishers, compiled by librarian Jeffrey Beall, is no longer officially maintained, but independent researchers keep updated versions that are publicly available through academic library portals. Think of these as another point of reference, not a definitive black list.

4. Be very wary of unsolicited email invitations.

Legitimate journals do not send out mass emails soliciting manuscripts. If an invitation is unsolicited, promises quick acceptance, or claims unusually short peer-review times, it should be checked out before you proceed.

How to Find the Citation Index of a Journal

A journal’s citation index explains the number of times its papers are cited with important metrics such as Journal Impact Factor (JIF), SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and Source Normalised Impact per Paper (SNIP), giving different views of the impact of a research.

To check the Impact Factor, you can use Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which provides JIF and JCI. It is subscription-based but available through INFLIBNET in most universities.

The SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) is a free option that provides quartile ranking (Q1-Q4), SJR scores, and H-index. Journals in Q1 or Q2 are generally considered good. Quartiles are used to compare journals across disciplines.

Conclusion

Picking the right journal is not a detail; it’s a career decision. Every submission should begin with verification, not end with regret. The ten databases featured in this guide each have a specific purpose. Knowing what to use for your specific discipline and academic goal separates the strategic scholars from the guesswork scholars.

Always check the latest UGC CARE journals list 2026 before submitting any manuscript. Check the official portal at https://www.ugc.gov.in International credibility, cross-check on Scopus or Web of Science. Filter predatory journals with ThinkCheckSubmit.org

And remember: a journal approved last month may not be approved today - check the live portal every single time.

Your research should be published where it will matter.