Karolinska Institutet Journal List (KI-JL)

• Provide a qualitative assessment of scholarly publishing channels and complement the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) in various applications, such as merit evaluation, assessment, resource allocation, and communication. · Fulfill KI’s commitments as a member of CoARA.
• Serve as a tool for updated publishing guidelines at KI.
• Support researchers in assessing journal quality prior to publishing and peer review assignments, for example, to easily avoid journals with questionable scientific practices.
• Contribute to ensuring that journal quality has greater impact when evaluating publishing agreements and costs.
• Create an indicator of journal quality that is independent of proprietary products from commercial actors.
• Establish a common process and ongoing discussion about developments in scholarly publishing at KI.

A panel of 10 researchers representing all departmental groups will propose criteria for which journals should be included in KI-JL and which criteria should govern the level-grading, as well as the process for annual updates. According to the mandate, the panel shall pay particular attention to, among other things, open science aspects. The panel will review journals and propose the structure of the list.

All departments will participate in the development of KI-JL through an annual consultation round before the list is finalized. Departments will also be able to suggest journals that are missing and provide input on other aspects of the process.

The Committee for research will decide on inclusion and level-grading criteria for KI-JL and submit a proposed list to the Faculty Board. The Faculty Board will approve the final list, which will then be made publicly available. The University Library and the Faculty Office Research will support the panel in its work and

Examples from Norway and Finland

Since 2005 in Norway and 2010 in Finland, there have been national level-graded registers of publishing channels (journals, series, and publishers) where assessments are carried out by panels of active researchers. These quality assessments are used as a basis for level-grading in KI-JL.

2025

• The Committee for research decided that Karolinska Institutet will develop a local journal list.
• Decision in the Committee for research on panel members and chair.
• The panel prepares inclusion criteria and principles for level-grading.
• Decision in the Committee for research on inclusion criteria and principles for level-grading.

2026 

January–February: Preparation of the first version of KI-JL, including consultation with KI’s heads of departments.

March: Decision in the Committee for research on the proposal.

April:  Approval of KI-JL by the Faculty Board. May: KI-JL is used for the first time in the performance-based allocation model for research and doctoral education funding.

Beginning with the 2027 resource allocation, KI-JL will be used as the basis for the journal indicators included in the model. For further details, please refer to the related news item and the accompanying President’s decision (dnr: 1–929/2025).

Note: For the 2026 allocation, a prototype list was used, based on the Norwegian and Finnish lists as well as the Nature Index.