[Journal selection and indexing for Index Medicus and Chinese periodicals indexed in Index Medicus]

Index Medicus/MEDLINE/PubMed published by U. S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) is the most important and commonly used biomedical literature retrieval system in the world. According to the"List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus (2004)", 4,098 journals are indexed for Index Medicus, including 70 journals from mainland China and Hong Kong and 9 journals from Taiwan. Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine established in May, 2003 is indexed in Index Medicus in 2004. This article outlines the critical elements of journal selection for Index Medicus/MEDLINE and the journal selection process for indexing at NLM, and introduces some measures for the Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine being indexed in Index Medicus/MEDLINE.