International Category Code (ICC)

International Category Code (ICC) is Category code of a specific branch of science. The International Category Code is a modern categorization of science. ICC is a fixed permanent international category code specifies a journal in which area operates. Knowing ICC of a journal, the exact operation field of the journal is obtainable from standards handbook or ICC finder.

ICC solves the following common problems of the online journals:

Recognizing a Journal Scope by ICC:

An ICC shows the journal operation category of a journal. For example, ICC-0321 shows the journal is in the area of engineering. Authors in the field of engineering already know this code or can check the ICC in ICC category finder. As example, find associated article to this ICC-0622 use following portal:

ICC Syntax Structure:

An ICC consisted of two parts, ICC and separated by a dash from a 3 digit code: ICC-0321. The first two digits show the main branch of science (here 03 is engineering area). The last two digits show the sub-branch of science (here 21 is electrical engineering). The ICC-032 overly specify the journal area is Engineering / electrical engineering

According to the Advanced Science Index (ASI) standard, publishers should explicitly display ICC in the described format on the main journal page and also online published articles.

History of Development of the ICC:

The first criterion authors check before submission of paper to a journal is the scientific area of the journal. The scientific journals try to specify communicating their operation field commonly by aim and scope, and the title of the journal. As authors have to explore many journals to find the journal that suits their paper, this process becomes hard when each journal page must be carefully read to find the operation area of the journal. In most cases, it is confusing and time consuming as some fields of science overlapped or the journal has not mentioned fully somce subareas of the science the journal publishes paper in. Some journals also lack such information on the journal page. A percentage of rejected papers by the journal is due to lack of matchment of the journal area and the paper area. The International Category Code (ICC) was introduced in 2014 by the Advanced Science Index (ASI) in Germany. ICC is assigned to journals and also to papers and articles. An author is aware of the ICC of its paper prior to submission. The author looks for the journal with the same ICC or close ICC of its paper to ICC the target journal.