How to index your journal in SciELO step by step (2025 Guide)
1. The call that changed everything
Note: the following story is an illustrative case built from a combination of real experiences.
The Revista de Historia Contemporánea had a 23-year track record but fewer than 300 downloads a month. Marta, its editor, received an email from a Brazilian researcher who could not find the articles from outside the institutional repository. That friendly complaint opened her eyes: it was time to join a larger aggregator. Today, after joining SciELO, downloads exceed 4,000 a month and the number of manuscripts from abroad has doubled.
1.1 Why is SciELO still key?
2. Understanding the 2025 criteria without losing your mind
SciELO publishes a table of requirements every two years; the secret is to read it early and turn each point into a tangible action. Three examples:
- Sustained periodicity. Publishing on time this semester is not enough: the platform analyses regularity over the last two years.
- Metadata in JATS XML 1.3. This means including ORCID, ROR and funding. Leaving an empty <funding-group> triggers automatic rejection.
- Editorial diversity. At least 30% of the board must live outside the country of origin. Inviting colleagues just for the photo is not enough; SciELO asks for meeting minutes and review lists.
Practical tip: Don’t try to memorise the requirements: turn them into tasks. Create a shared document with each criterion as a specific task, and assign owners and deadlines. You will see how what looked like an intimidating list becomes an actionable plan, with clear steps visible to the whole team.
3. Weeks 1–3: audit and action plan
- Export a CSV with publication dates and check the real gap against the official schedule.
- Check licences: every PDF and HTML must visibly carry the CC-BY logo.
- Validate XML with SciELO Tagger. Upload three recent articles and note recurring errors.
- Review ethics policies: mention COPE, plagiarism, generative AI and review times.
4. Weeks 4–7: technical execution
- Generate XML. At Index we can help you convert your articles into the JATS-XML that SciELO requires and check entities against Crossref.
- Assign retroactive DOIs. A DOI without citations is worth more than a broken link; SciELO also requires it for all content from the last two years.
- Enable OAI-PMH and HTTPS. SciELO crawls both endpoints; a 403 error can delay the evaluation by weeks.
5. Weeks 8–12: submission and follow-up
The dossier is sent via a form. From there, there are two possible scenarios:
- Minor observations (70% of cases): usually metadata or licences are missing from old issues. Correct them and reply within seven days.
- Major observations: these usually involve restoring periodicity or renewing the board. They can extend the review by another 90 days.
Marta went through the first scenario; it took her four days to fix a couple of broken links, and she received provisional acceptance 128 days after the first submission.
6. Mistakes that cost months
- Hidden embargo. Some plugins add a lock-out period without the editor noticing. Disable it.
- Incomplete translations. SciELO requires a bilingual title and abstract; an article with an abstract only in Spanish leads to rejection of the whole journal, not just that article.
- Outdated policies. An institutional PDF from 2018 is not enough: publish the new version on your website and link to it.
7. Metrics that change after indexing
At the Revista de Historia Contemporánea the increase in downloads was almost immediate. But the most valuable indicators appeared after six months: citations in Latin American master’s theses and requests to collaborate on special issues. Impact is not always linear, but it takes hold and grows.
Indexing in SciELO is a demanding process, but not impossible when planned rigorously. Book a free video call of 30 minutes with our editorial team and get a personalised report with your top three improvement priorities.