The update to the rules for compiling the List of Ukrainian Scientific Journals has divided the scientific community into a "before" and "after". The point-based system for evaluating publications has forced graduate students, doctoral candidates, and those seeking academic degrees to rethink their publication strategies. Let's figure out what these mean magazine scores for the special council: how they are calculated and how to safely schedule the publication of an article before the defense.
Regulatory Reset: A New Three-Year Cycle
The reform of professional publications began with the approval of a new version of the Procedure for Compiling the List—Order No. 56 of the Ministry of Education and Science dated January 19, 2026, registered with the Ministryon January 28, 2026, under No. 129/45523. The logical conclusion of this stage was the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science dated June 10, 2026, which approved the current list of Category “B” journals for a three-year period—from June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2029.
Key facts about the reform:
The next application period via the URIS system will not take place until 2029. If a journal is not included on the list now, it will remain outside the professional standards for at least three years.
The updated list includes 1,298 scientific publications, organized into 15 scientific clusters.
In 2025, journals that did not pass the selection process produced more than 28% of all Category “B” scientific content—meaning that nearly one-third of all publications appeared in journals that did not meet the new requirements.
The Anatomy of Scoring: Why the Magazine Receives 30 Points
Each journal’s rating is calculated on a scale of 0 to 30 points within scientific clusters. The passing threshold for Category “B” is 9 points—30% below the maximum.
Here is the complete official table of criteria in accordance with Appendix 4 to the Procedure:
| Criterion | Points |
|---|---|
| Open "diamond" access—free of charge for both authors and readers, for all articles and issues | 5 |
| Citations in Scopus / Web of Science — the percentage of articles cited in the previous two years: over 10% / over 25% | 2 / 4 |
| Exemption from tuition fees for graduate students—third-level candidates enrolled in state-funded programs who publish their work as sole authors | 3 |
| Inclusion in DOAJ — the Directory of Open Access Journals | 3 |
| Proportion of foreign authors—publications by non-resident authors: over 10% / over 25% | 1 / 3 |
| Diversity of authorship—the proportion of authors from a single institution: no more than 50% / no more than 25% | 2 / 3 |
| Depositing in repositories — the publisher allows the author to store the final version of the article (AAM) in an open repository | 2 |
| The proportion of DOIs in the reference lists—over 25% / over 50% | 1 / 2 |
| Open Data Policy — Availability of FAIR data with a DOI in the article's metadata | 1 |
| Ethics Review Policy — for research involving humans, animals, or personal data | 1 |
| Peer-Review Software — Facilitating Communication Between Authors, Editors, and Reviewers | 1 |
| Registration in the Registry of Media Entities | 1 |
| Publisher Registration in ROR | 1 |
The range of actual scores in the approved ranking was from 2 to 26 points. Two publications received the highest score—26 points. Only 27% journals scored 15+ points.
Regardless of the score, a publication will not be included in the List if its editorial board consists of fewer than 9 scholars (including at least 2 foreign scholars), if there is no policy regarding AI (a requirement of Law No. 4742-IX “On Academic Integrity”), or if representatives of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus are involved in the work.
Journal Scores vs. Article Acceptance: Does the Score Affect the Outcome?
The main practical question for a researcher:
If I publish an article in a journal with a score of 10, will it count the same as an article from a journal with a score of 25?
From a legal standpoint—yes, it will be accepted on the same basis. And this applies to all scenarios that require a professional publication.
To defend a dissertation. Ad hoc specialized scientific councils accept a publication if the journal was classified as Category “B” on the date the article was published. The scores are irrelevant.
To obtain an academic degree. When conferring the titles of associate professor or professor, the Ministry of Education and Science’s Certification Board follows the same principle—the journal must be included in the List for the relevant specialty. There is no internal ranking within the category.
For reporting and KPIs. Universities include publications in Category “B” academic journals in a faculty member’s research ranking, regardless of the journal’s score. For department reports and annual performance evaluations, what matters is simply that the publication is an academic journal.
For the licensing and accreditation of academic programs. Publications by faculty and staff in professional journals are taken into account when determining the composition of the faculty—and here, too, a uniform “Category B” status applies, without any ranking based on points.
What Really Matters, Regardless of the Scenario
Active DOI. An article is considered valid only if it has a valid digital identifier. Without a DOI, the publication does not exist in scientometric systems.
Relevance to the major. The journal must be a professional journal specifically related to your field of study, not just one that appears on the list. Following the reform, many publications have narrowed their list of fields of study—be sure to check.
Release date of the issue. The publication must be on the List at the exact time of publication. If the journal is removed from the List after your article is published, the publication remains valid. However, if it is removed before the issue is published, the article will not be counted.
So what, then, is the difference between a 10-point and a 25-point journal?
The difference lies not in legal status, but in risk.
A journal with a score of 25 has a solid foundation: a strong editorial board, international authors, a strong citation record, and transparent policies. It will pass the Ministry of Education and Science’s annual review without any problems.
A journal with a score of 10 barely cleared the entry threshold. Any violation discovered during the review—such as an expired APC policy, a former editorial board member, or exceeding the publication limit—will result in the journal’s removal from the List. This means that your article, submitted to the editorial office in September and scheduled for the December issue, may be published in a journal that is no longer on the List.
In addition, journals with high impact factors have stricter selection criteria and longer submission queues, but they also carry greater reputational weight. A publication in such a journal looks more impressive on a resume, in a report to a grant provider, or when applying for a competition.
Enter a name—the bot will show you the scores based on the 2026 Ministry of Education and Science list, the research cluster, and the exact majors. No need to search through multi-page PDFs.
Risks Facing Researchers in 2026–2029
The new rules have created specific pitfalls that could disrupt the publication schedule.
The “bottleneck effect” due to the +50% rule. The new regulation prohibits journals from increasing their annual volume of published articles by more than 50% compared to the previous year. Publications can no longer produce bloated volumes containing 100 articles each in order to meet demand.
Waiting periods range from 6 to 12 months. The closure of publications that produced more than 28% of the total volume of Category “B” articles has led to an overload on high-quality editorial offices. It is no longer possible to submit an article one month before the deadline.
Annual monitoring by the Ministry of Education and Science. A journal’s professional status for 2026–2029 is not set in stone. Violations of the APC policy, manipulation of review dates, or exceeding the publication limit will result in the journal’s removal from the List during the annual review. The first such review will take place by the end of 2026—and journals with the lowest scores will be the first to be affected.
Change in the range of majors. Many multidisciplinary journals have been forced to narrow their specializations to a single research cluster. Even if a journal was classified under your code in 2025, this does not guarantee that it will automatically retain that specialization in the new order.
Algorithm for Safely Choosing a Journal
Before submitting your manuscript, follow these four mandatory steps.
Check the major in the original source. Check the appendix to the Ministry of Education and Science order or the journal's profile in the Register of Scientific Publications. Look for the exact code for your major, not just the name of the publication.
Check the scores in the log. Schools with scores below 13 are considered at risk during annual monitoring. The fastest way to find out your score is through the Leo chatbot.
Please review the release schedule. Please contact the editorial office to request official confirmation of the scheduled issue number and the estimated date for DOI assignment.
Avoid intermediaries offering a "3-day guarantee." If a journal offers to publish an article within a week without peer review, this is a clear indication of a violation of the Ministry of Education and Science’s requirements and poses a risk of the journal being delisted.
If your deadline is tight and you need the publication in order to defend your dissertation on time, earn an academic degree, or pass a certification exam—leave the process to the professionals.
An audit conducted in accordance with the updated order from the Ministry of Education and Science, including a review of the grades in the grade book and its consistency with the annual monitoring.
Review of the text for compliance with academic integrity requirements, the IMRAD structure, the accuracy of bibliographic citations, and the formatting of the DOI.
Official support for the manuscript through the publication process, including indexing and the assignment of an active DOI.
Free of charge, with no obligation. We'll get back to you within the day.
Conclusions for Authors
The impact factors of professional journals in 2026 are, first and foremost, a tool for government-led selection and an indicator of a publication’s sustainability, rather than a discriminatory barrier. To successfully defend a thesis, obtain an academic degree, or meet KPIs, it is sufficient for the journal to be included in the official list for your field at the time of publication and to have correctly assigned a DOI to the article.
But that doesn’t mean the scores don’t matter. A journal with a minimum score may be removed from the List during the next monitoring cycle—and then publishing in it would lose its meaning. Therefore, checking a journal’s score before submitting an article is not a formality, but a basic safeguard.
The main challenge of the updated 2026–2029 cycle is the shortage of publication slots and long waiting lists for peer review. Plan to submit your publications at least 6–9 months before your target date, regularly check the status of your submissions in the publication registries, and use automated verification tools before submitting your manuscript to the editorial office.
