Researchers are often asked to show that the journal they published in is genuine. This guide shows five checks that anyone can carry out in a few minutes, using KALANJIYAM – International Journal of Tamil Studies as the worked example. The same checks work for any journal.
1. Check the ISSN at the ISSN Portal
Every serial has an International Standard Serial Number registered with the ISSN International Centre. Search the number at portal.issn.org and check that the title and country match what the journal’s website says. KALANJIYAM’s number is e-ISSN 2456-5148 (online). It has no print ISSN, because it is published online only.
2. Check that the DOIs resolve
A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) should open the article’s page when typed after https://doi.org/. KALANJIYAM DOIs start with the prefix 10.63300, registered with Crossref; you can list them at search.crossref.org.
3. Find the publisher and the editors
A genuine journal names its publisher, gives a postal address, and lists its editors with their institutions. KALANJIYAM is published by the Department of Library and Information Science and the Department of Tamil, Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam College (Autonomous), Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, and its board is listed on the Editorial Board page.
4. Read the peer review and fee policies
The journal should explain how papers are reviewed and state every charge before you submit. KALANJIYAM uses double-blind review by at least two reviewers and charges ₹1,000 only after acceptance – see the Peer Review Process and Publication Fees.
5. Be careful with impact factors
Many websites sell “impact factors” that are not calculated from real citation data. Treat any impact factor that does not come from a recognised service (such as Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports or Scopus CiteScore) with caution. KALANJIYAM does not display impact factors from unrecognised providers; the services that index it are listed on the Indexing & Abstracting page.
Journal facts at a glance
All of KALANJIYAM’s key facts – identifiers, licence, frequency and contacts – are collected on the journal profile page.