Research Journals in Nepal: NepJOL & Indexing

Searching for a list of journals in Nepal? Nepal has an active journal community, most of it on Nepal Journals Online, and a few medical titles are in MEDLINE and Scopus. This guide presents leading Nepali journals with their publisher, discipline and reported indexing, and explains how to pick and check a journal. It is aimed at researchers in Kathmandu, Nepal; Pokhara, Nepal; Dharan, Nepal; Lalitpur, Nepal and throughout the country. Compare a journal's stated scope with your paper before investing time in formatting.

Scholarly Publishing in Nepal

Universities in Nepal obtain grants via the University Grants Commission Nepal, which also backs quality assurance. Tribhuvan University, the biggest in the country, publishes many national journals alongside Kathmandu University and the health science institutes. The Nepal Academy of Science and Technology and the Nepal Health Research Council support research in science and health.

Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) hosts most Nepali journals. It began in 2007 as a project supported by INASP and is now run by Tribhuvan University Central Library. NepJOL carries hundreds of journals from universities, colleges and professional societies and gives free access to their articles.

Medicine supplies Nepal's most familiar titles. Three of them, the Journal of Nepal Health Research Council, the Kathmandu University Medical Journal and the Journal of Nepal Medical Association, report MEDLINE/PubMed and Scopus coverage; Scopus alone is reported by the Journal of Nepal Paediatric Society and by the forestry journal Banko Janakari.

Outside medicine, NepJOL holds journals on agriculture, engineering, education, management, the humanities and the social sciences, many issued by central departments and campuses of Tribhuvan University. The majority lack international indexing, yet they remain valuable venues for research about Nepal and for early-career researchers establishing a publication record. A modest local record can still strengthen later submissions to wider audiences.

Nepali Research Journals: A List

Each journal below is issued in Nepal by a university, society or research body that can be identified. The “reported coverage” column gives what the journal or its publisher says about itself, so check any indexing claim in Scopus Sources or the Master Journal List prior to submitting.

Confirmed on 4 October 2026 with each journal's website or publisher. Treat it as somewhere to begin for Nepal, not as a ranking or a full list.

Online Journal Platforms and Directories to Use

Begin with NepJOL to locate Nepali journals, then verify indexing in international directories.

Nepal's Research Centres

Research in Nepal is mostly gathered in the Kathmandu Valley, though every province has universities and health science institutes.

Picking the Right Journal

Do not leave journal selection until the draft is finished. Read three recent articles to test the scope, note the length and referencing rules in the author guidelines, and check what your institution counts, whether a national list, Scopus, Web of Science or any peer-reviewed journal. Plan a reliable alternative in case the first choice rejects the paper.

Fees and Affordable Options

A good number of Nepali journals on NepJOL ask authors for little or nothing; some levy processing fees in rupees, and a few ask international authors for more. Read each journal's official fee statement. Note what the fee actually covers before you agree to pay it.

Make payment only after real acceptance and only through official channels. As a point of reference, JMVRA charges foreign authors $41 USD, due only after acceptance and covering up to five authors.

To see the whole comparison method, read our guide to low-cost journal publication, whose checks work in Nepal as elsewhere, and how low-fee journals pay their way.

How to Use Nepal Journals Online

1. Browse by subject or title to locate journals in your discipline.
2. Visit the journal's About page to learn about the editorial board, scope, review policy, ISSN and fees, if any.
3. Look through recent issues to gauge fit and standard.
4. Submit using the journal's own system, which could be on NepJOL or on the journal's website.
5. Confirm indexing on its own if you must show presence in Scopus, Web of Science or MEDLINE.

Checking a Journal Step by Step

• Cross-check title and ISSN with what the ISSN Portal shows.
• Find out for yourself who the publisher and editors are and where to write to them.
• Read the peer review policy, and expect each decision to arrive with reviewer comments.
• Check every claim about indexing against the database's own listing.
• A reliable journal states its fees up front and invoices only once the paper is accepted.

Checklist Before You Submit a Manuscript

1. Journal verifiedScope, requirement and indexing reviewed
2. Template usedLayout, reference style and length
3. Similarity examinedSources all acknowledged, earlier work of your own too
4. Ethics addressedApproval, consent and conflicts disclosed
5. Author details verifiedNames and affiliations as they ought to be printed
6. Cover letter draftedWhy this paper is right for this journal

Practical Tips for Nepali Scholars Preparing Strong Manuscripts

Researchers in Nepal often combine teaching, clinical work and field studies in difficult terrain. These tips help you turn that varied experience into clear manuscripts that reviewers can assess confidently.

• Describe the geography and setting. Explain the district, altitude or community context that shapes your findings. Readers elsewhere cannot guess how mountain, hill or valley conditions influence your data.
• Keep field records organised. Label notebooks, photographs and survey forms with consistent codes as you collect them. Tidy records make it much easier to answer a reviewer's question months later.
• Translate instruments carefully. When questionnaires were translated from English into Nepali, describe how you checked the meaning, such as back translation or expert review. This supports the validity of your results.
• Limit claims to what data support. Avoid generalising from a single district or small group to the entire country. Clearly stated limitations make a paper more trustworthy, not weaker.
• Plan travel and internet gaps. If you work remotely, schedule submission and revision tasks when connectivity is dependable. Finish uploads well before any deadline in case a connection fails.

Explain your setting, organise field records and claim only what your data can honestly support.

Questions Researchers Often Ask

Summary and What to Do Next

Nepal offers a big open platform together with medical journals that are indexed internationally. Explore through NepJOL, confirm indexing at its source, and select by fit.

1. Request written confirmation from your institution of what it requires before publication.
2. Prepare a shortlist from the table and read the recent papers of each journal.
3. For help with checking indexing, use this companion guide covering Scopus and Web of Science journals from Nepal.
4. Prepare the manuscript with the journal's template and submit on the journal's own site.

References and Sources

Checked on 4 October 2026. Indexing, fees and policies can change, so check them again before submitting.

• Nepal Journals Online — About
• University Grants Commission Nepal
• Nepal Health Research Council
• Journal of Nepal Medical Association
• Kathmandu University Medical Journal
• Scopus Sources
• Clarivate Master Journal List
• ISSN Portal