From vision to validation: How Journal of Integrative Medicine and Research reached Directory of Open Access Journals and what comes next

We are delighted to announce that the Journal of Integrative Medicine and Research (JIMR), published by Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), has been officially accepted into the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). This internationally respected index, now listing over 22,300 quality open-access journals (with nearly 12 million articles),1 recognizes JIMR’s commitment to rigorous peer review, ethical publishing, and free access. Notably, DOAJ is acknowledged by India’s National Medical Commission (NMC) as a marker of journal quality and is included in NMC’s list of approved journals. In fact, JIMR is now the first journal from Odisha, India (and the only journal published by a medical college in the state) to achieve this honor, a significant leap for Odisha’s academic landscape. Scholarly publishing in the medical sciences is vast. For context, indexing services cover tens of thousands of journals worldwide. The NLM’s PubMed database includes roughly 30,000 journal titles in the biomedical and life sciences fields.2 Elsevier’s Scopus currently covers 28,791 active peer-reviewed journals across all disciplines. This includes over 8100 open-access journals (with 25.1 million OA articles).3 Several hundred Scopus-indexed titles are published from India, many by scientific societies and institutions. Clarivate’s Core indexes include the Science Citation Index Expanded (~8850 journals, Emerging Sources (~5000 journals), plus thousands more in Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities. In total, WoS covers on the order of tens of thousands of scholarly journals.4 Over 22,300 of these titles are fully open-access and listed in DOAJ.1 Nearly 14,000 DOAJ journals are free for authors (no publication fees), as is JIMR. In India specifically, recent surveys note hundreds of Indian OA journals in DOAJ (one study cites 351 journals indexed by 2024).5 Our acceptance into DOAJ thus places JIMR among a growing community of credible Indian open-access journals, and the only medical journal from Odisha in global indexes. JIMR was launched in January 2023 as a broad-based, quarterly open-access journal covering all branches of allopathic medicine as well as allied fields like dentistry and nursing. In ten consecutive issues so far, it has “upheld high academic and ethical standards” through careful peer review. Importantly, JIMR charges no article processing fees, following the example of other DOAJ-indexed journals. As one recent editorial notes, continuing a no-APC policy “promotes equitable access to scientific publication” and helps research reach the widest possible audience.6 In practical terms, this means that authors can submit their work to JIMR without financial barriers, aligning with DOAJ’s mission to make high-quality research freely available to all. Looking ahead, JIMR is poised for further growth. Plans are already underway to seek inclusion in PubMed Central and Scopus. Achieving these milestones will further amplify the reach of the research published here. We invite authors and readers across India and the world to support this vision. We will continue publishing rigorous, peer-reviewed studies in every medical and health discipline, and we count on the goodwill of our scholarly community to cite JIMR and contribute high-quality papers. JIMR is a proud publication of the KIMS, a constituent of KIIT University. KIMS is a 2600-bed tertiary care teaching hospital (established in 2007) with 20 broad and 12 super-specialty clinical departments. It offers 250 seats in its MBBS program and about 250 postgraduate (MD/MS) positions, as well as DM superspecialty courses in numerous fields.7 With world-class infrastructure and leadership by Samanta,8 KIMS is committed to excellence in education and research, and its support has been pivotal in launching and sustaining JIMR. In closing, the editorial team thanks our readers, reviewers, and authors for their contributions. Indexing in DOAJ is a major milestone, but it is only the beginning of our journey. We look forward to your continued support, whether as authors, peer reviewers, or readers, as JIMR strives to become a leading repository of medical knowledge for India and the global community.