Dear RC 44 and GLU members, we are asking for your support to advocate for the inclusion of the Global Labour Journal in the Web of Science (WOS Clarivate) main catalogue. GLJ is currently included in a list called Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). From this list journals  used to  be upgraded into WOS main catalogue, after a rigorous evaluation process. Since the creation of a new ranking system by Clarivate in 2022, based on journals impact factor (called JIF), the evaluation of journals in ESCI has stopped. This has prevented our journal from upgrading to the main catalogue, despite our high impact factor (corresponding to a Q3 in WOS main catalogue). Despite our requests put forward by McMaster, our university press, Clarivate has thus far denied considering our journal until an undetermined time. Our absence from the ranking is negatively affecting GLJ vis-à-vis journals in the field with a longer history within the ranking system. Since its start, the GLJ has been an open-access journal, taking a political stance against the academic journal market.. However, ranking and the visibility it brings are key to receiving high-quality submissions, and our board is keen on achieving this to ensure the journal’s future growth.  

 We are published by McMaster University press, a not for profit publisher that publishes only open access journals. McMaster it’s part of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CKNW), https://www.crkn-rcdr.ca/en/about-crkn, the consortium representing university libraries and archives across Canada. CKNW negotiates access to WOS by contracting Clarivate’s services on behalf of member institutions. Given CKNW’s contracting role in relation to Clarivate, we are asking you to sign this petition form to back our request to CKNW to negotiate with Clarivate to have our journal evaluated for inclusion in the WOS main catalogue.