Embase is officially recognized by the National Medical Commission (NMC) of India. Publications in Embase indexed journals are valid for faculty promotions in medical colleges as per the NMC gazette notification dated 22/02/2022.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) of India, through its gazette notification dated 22nd February 2022, recognizes Embase as one of the approved indexing databases. Research papers published in Embase indexed journals are fully valid and accepted for faculty promotions (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor) in medical colleges across India.
Note: The original gazette notification used the term "Expanded Embase," which caused confusion. NMC later clarified via an RTI response that this was a typographical error, and the correct term is simply "Embase" — the biomedical database managed by Elsevier.
As per the NMC gazette notification (22/02/2022), only journals indexed in these 7 databases are considered valid for medical faculty promotions in India.
Important: Index Copernicus, Google Scholar, and other indexing services are NOT valid for NMC faculty promotions. Only the above 7 databases are recognized. Always verify journal indexing before submitting your manuscript.
Key rules from the NMC gazette notification for medical faculty promotions in India.
Only original research papers, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and case series are considered valid. Review articles, letters to editor, and editorials are NOT counted for promotion.
Only the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd authors get the benefit of the publication for promotion purposes. The corresponding author position is not specifically mentioned in the new NMC gazette rules.
Many predatory journals falsely claim Embase or Scopus indexing. Always verify through the official Embase journal list from Elsevier before submitting your manuscript. Non-indexed publications won't count.
The NMC gazette notification dated 22/02/2022 used the term "Expanded Embase" which caused widespread confusion among medical faculty and NMC inspectors. Many inspectors were initially reluctant to accept publications from "Embase" indexed journals because the gazette mentioned "Expanded Embase," which is not an actual database.
To resolve this confusion, an RTI (Right to Information) query was filed. In its official response, the NMC/MCI clarified that:
"There is no such thing as 'Expanded Embase'. It was a typographical error in the gazette notification. The correct and valid term is Embase — the biomedical database managed by Elsevier."
Similarly, the term "Central Science Citation Index" in the gazette was also clarified as a typo — the correct terms are Science Citation Index (SCI) and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE). This RTI clarification has been a major relief for medical faculty who had publications in Embase indexed journals.
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Common questions about Embase and NMC approval for medical faculty promotions.
