Coverage Policy
Admission to the Core Collection is not a one-time event. This page defines what happens to a journal record over time — continuing review, warning, suspension, withdrawal, ceased, delisting, appeal, and reinstatement — so that a status change is never a surprise. See the Journal Inclusion and Verification Policy for how a record is admitted in the first place, and Coverage Changes for the public log of status changes as they happen.
Lifecycle States
Admission
A record passes evidence review (see the Journal Inclusion and Verification Policy) and receives a PQF editorial-selection assessment. It joins the Core Collection and enters continuing review going forward.
What readers see: Full public record, PQF grade, lifecycle and PSC classification.
Continuing Review
The default ongoing state for every Core Collection member. Records are re-checked against the same public-evidence criteria on at least an annual cadence, or sooner if a specific concern is raised.
What readers see: No change to public status — this is the steady state most journals stay in.
Warning
Applied when continuing review finds a specific, unresolved concern — e.g. a policy page has disappeared, the editorial board can no longer be verified, or an integrity concern has been raised — while POSI seeks clarification from the publisher.
What readers see: A visible warning notice on the journal record stating the specific concern. Existing PQF/AJR figures remain displayed, marked as under review.
Suspension
Applied when a Warning is not resolved within the response window, or when a citation-integrity finding requires withholding a metric pending review (see PJR-SPEC.md § 9). The Core Collection record itself is not removed.
What readers see: Ranking and/or metric fields show "suppressed" with the reason. The record stays visible — POSI does not silently delete a suspended journal's history.
Withdrawal
A publisher may request their journal be withdrawn from active Core Collection evaluation at any time, for any reason, without it being treated as an integrity finding.
What readers see: Record marked as withdrawn at publisher request; historical PQF/AJR figures remain visible for reference, clearly dated.
Ceased
Applied when a journal itself stops publishing — no new issues for an extended period and no indication of a future resumption.
What readers see: Record marked ceased with its last known publication date.
Delisting
POSI-initiated permanent removal from the Core Collection, applied only after a Suspension is not resolved within the defined window, or in response to a severe, confirmed integrity violation (e.g. fabricated editorial board, citation cartel).
What readers see: Record marked delisted with the specific reason. The historical record — including that it was once admitted and what changed — is not erased.
Appeal
A publisher may appeal any Warning, Suspension, or Delisting decision by submitting counter-evidence to the POSI editorial team. Appeals are reviewed independently of the original finding.
What readers see: Appeal status noted on the record while under review.
Reinstatement
If a suspended or delisted journal resolves the underlying issue (documented and independently verifiable), it may be reinstated through the same evidence-review process as a new submission.
What readers see: Record returns to Continuing Review with the resolution documented.
Principles
- ✓A journal's access model (open access, hybrid, subscription) and its DOAJ listing status are never, by themselves, grounds for Warning, Suspension, or Delisting.
- ✓A Warning or Suspension always names the specific, evidence-based concern — never an unexplained status change.
- ✓A suspended or delisted record is never silently deleted. The public record preserves what happened and when.
- ✓No manual score, ranking, or quartile override exists at any stage of this process — a status change affects visibility and metric availability, never the underlying PQF/AJR calculation itself.
- ✓Every Warning, Suspension, and Delisting carries an appeal right, reviewed independently of the original finding.