KJU Indexed in MEDLINE

The Korean Journal of Urology (KJU) has taken a great leap towards becoming a highly regarded international journal. This July, KJU was selected to be indexed in MEDLINE, a bibliographic database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). MEDLINE includes citations from over 5,600 scholarly journals published around the world. Currently, KJU is among 18 journals in Korea that are indexed. The National Institutes of Health-chartered advisory committee, the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC), reviews and recommends journals for MEDLINE. The LSTRC considers the quality of the scientific content of a journal, including originality and the importance of the content for the MEDLINE global audience. A distinctive feature of MEDLINE is that it uses the NLM controlled vocabulary, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), to index citations. The KJU has been indexed in PubMed and PubMed Central since 2010 [1]. With the January issue of 2010, KJU took a giant leap towards its quest to becoming an international journal. At that time, the official language of the journal changed from Korean to English, which was a historical event in the life of the Korean Urological Association [2]. After the journal was indexed in PubMed and PubMed Central, the journal’s impact factor from the Web of Science and its impact index from SCImago Journal began to increase dramatically [3]. Likewise, being indexed in an internationally well-known journal database such as MEDLINE will provide easy access to the KJU for many international readers and researchers. MEDLINE is an internationally respected premier database in the field of biomedicine. Therefore, the indexing of the KJU by MEDLINE is an outstanding achievement and another giant leap on the journal’s path to becoming a renowned international journal. This achievement will broaden the range of international readers and will increase the number of submissions of high-quality articles. It will also provide a strong driving force for our editorial team in their efforts to build a high-quality international journal. To improve the quality of the journal, KJU will provide an assessment of audio-video contents, rapid critical review, timely publication, and an emphasis on publication ethics. KJU is an open-access journal with a goal to expand the base of international readers. For young investigators who are familiar with smart phones or tablet PCs, KJU provides a mobile web service. To interact with readers, KJU will develop interactive online features. The upcoming goal of the KJU is to be registered in SCI(E), which is a way to become a leading journal in the field of urology in Asia. By doing this, the KJU can provide international readers access to Asian data in various urological fields. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of the editorial boards of the KJU, all members of the Korean Urological Association, and all international contributors. The achievement of being indexed in MEDLINE would not have been possible without your enthusiasm and contribution. I extend all the best wishes to you.