Reporting the listing of Physical Activity and Nutrition on Scopus and the future direction
Article information
FOUNDATION OF THE KOREA SOCIETY FOR EXERCISE NUTRITION AND THE KOREAN JOURNAL OF EXERCISE NUTRITION
The Korean Society for Exercise Nutrition was founded in 1996 and is committed to the academic development of exercise nutrition and its practical application in the field. The following year, in 1997, the Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition started publication, and was nominated for its registration by the Korea Research Foundation in 2001 and listed by the Korea Research Foundation in 2003.
EFFORTS TO DEVELOP INTO AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
To develop the journal into an international journal, we renamed the Journal of Exercise Nutrition and Biochemistry (JENB) in 2011 and converted it to publications entirely in English. In September 2014, it was listed in ScienceCentral, operated by the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies, and at the same time, it was listed in the U.S. National Library’s PubMed and PubMed Central in September and November 2014, paving the way for international publications.
SELECTION PROCESS FOR SCOPUS LISTING
In 2014, it applied for registration on Scopus, but after several years of review, it failed to procure registration on Scopus in 2019. The comments were as follows:
1. There are a few good and informative articles, but many articles only make little contribution to the field.
2. The abstracts are in keeping with Scopus English Language requirements.
3. In general, the content of the articles is consistent with the scope and aims of the journal.
4. Despite being published for quite some time, articles in this title have attracted few citations by other titles currently covered by Scopus.
5. The journal states it is international, but this is shown to be weak area although there is some presence noted.
6. Peer review guidance on the web site is very brief and it is unclear to whom it is addressed to- is it to the author or the reviewer; it is a good web site; and publication ethics statement is noted.
Based on the comments received from the Scopus listing review, we were formed to reorganize the scope of the journal, and from Issue 1 of 2020, the journal name was revised to Physical Activity and Nutrition (PAN). The Scholar One online submission system, review management system with international journal standards, and the journal homepage were rebuilt. While revising, based on the comments from Scopus, we also focused our efforts on publications and citations by foreign authors and challenged again to be listed on Scopus in August 2021. After more than one year of review, in July 2022, PAN was successfully listed on Scopus, paving the way for its international publication.
APPLYING FOR SCIE LISTING
Currently, this journal has completed its application to be reviewed for listing on the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), which is run by Thomson Reuters, and is currently in the final process of review, the Editorial Evaluation, after passing the first two phases: the Initial Triage and the Editorial Triage. Efforts are being devoted to the Citation and Content Significance sections to ensure that the requirements of the Impact Criteria of the last three stages are met.
THE DIRECTIONS TO BE MOVED FORWARD
PAN largely encompasses the academic areas of physical activity and nutrition in detail, including the field of convergence and complex studies related to exercise nutrition in 1. Public health on physical activity and/or nutrition, 2. Experimental biochemistry on exercise and/or nutrition, 3. Experimental physiology on exercise and nutrition, 4. Sports nutrition and supplementation, 5. Epidemiology on physical activity and/or nutrition. It aims to improve the general public’s health and the performance and conditioning control of sports players through exercise and nutrition. The following factors must be strengthened for this journal to be further developed into an international journal with competencies.
1. Improving the quality of articles
2. Internationalization of the Editorial Board
3. Increased number of submissions from overseas affiliates
4. Increased number of citations from international publications
5. Strict research ethics, and transparent and expeditious review process
Following the Scopus listing, all editorial board members will continue to make every effort to ensure that the journal is successfully listed for the SCIE so that it can advance to an international journal with competencies in the field of sports science.