NONE 20260128104953466 naun/naun content-registration-form+ja@crossref.org content-registration-form International Journal of Communications 1998-4480 Xiaodong Zhuang Qingdao University, Qingdao, CHINA Ahmed Zeeshan Department of Mathematics and Statistics, FOS, International Islamic University, H-10, Islamabad PAKISTAN Rukiye Öztekin Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, TURKEY Emmanuel O. Sangotayo Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, NIGERIA The credibility of academic publishers and their journals must be assessed through official, transparent evaluation mechanisms rather than unverified online sources. This article examines the formal indexing and evaluation processes employed by recognized academic databases including SCOPUS, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and Web of Science (formerly ISI), contrasting these with unsubstantiated claims circulated through social media and anonymous blogs. We analyze the criteria, methodologies, and governance structures of legitimate indexing services, emphasizing the importance of relying on authoritative sources when evaluating publication venues. The case of WSEAS serves as an illustrative example of how publishers should be assessed through official channels rather than informal online commentary. 12 31 2025 12 31 2025 1 1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_US 10.46300/9107.2025.17.1 https://npublications.com/journals/communications/2025/a022006-001(2025).pdf Elsevier, "Content Policy and Selection," SCOPUS, Available: https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus/howscopus-works/content DOAJ, "Directory of Open Access Journals: Information for Publishers," Available: https://doaj.org/apply/guide/ Clarivate Analytics, "Web of Science Journal Evaluation Process and Selection Criteria," Available: https://clarivate.com/products/scientific-andacademic-research/research-discovery-and-workflowsolutions/webofscience-platform/ Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), "Core Practices," Available: https://publicationethics.org/corepractices Think. Check. Submit., "Check Where to Publish," Available: https://thinkchecksubmit.org/ Grudniewicz, A., et al., "Predatory journals: no definition, no defence," Nature, vol. 576, pp. 210-212, 2019. Cobey, K.D., et al., "What is a predatory journal? A scoping review," F1000Research, vol. 7, p. 1001, 2018. Shamseer, L., et al., "Potential predatory and legitimate biomedical journals: can you tell the difference? A crosssectional comparison," BMC Medicine, vol. 15, p. 28, 2017.