Anna University Annexure I journals, explained

What is Anna University’s Annexure I journal list?

This is Anna University’s own list of approved journals, maintained by the Centre for Research in Chennai. To decide whether your paper counts for the PhD, the university does not go by UGC-CARE or by a Scopus search. It goes by this list only.

The name came from the 2020 regulations. In February 2022 CFR amended the norms for recognising research departments and supervisors, and the amended text talked about “journals listed in Centre for Research Website (Annexure I)”. The CFR page with the heading ANNEXURE - I still has the same title on it. Up on that page a note is there, meant for scholars admitted from January 2021 onwards. That page carries the date 10 April 2021.

In the present regulations, R2025, the word “Annexure” is not used for journals anywhere. Clause 16.2 just says “Journals (listed in CFR website)”. This one list decides three things for you. Your synopsis depends on it (clause 16.2), and so do the papers you bind into the thesis (up to five, clause 17.5). Recognition of supervisors and research departments also goes by the same list (clause 7.3 and the department norms).

The list is very big. When we checked in September 2026, the common Journal List had about 12,200 titles. CFR’s October 2022 circular on fake journals admits one problem. CFR can’t establish the authenticity of more than 11,000 listed journals. That check is left to researchers. So a title on the list means the title is approved. Whether the website in front of you is the real journal is a separate check.

Main list, supplementary lists and department lists: which one applies to you?

CFR has put up seven journal pages. At the start of each page it is written for whom that list is. Five of them were linked from the Journal menu in September 2026. The two Annexure pages we could not see in the menu, though a direct link still opened them.

Begin with the common Journal List. As per its own heading, it applies to every registered scholar. The menu now takes you to this page, and newly approved journals are added to this list itself (the October 2025 amendments added 42 titles “under the Journal List”).

We feel the supplementary lists are holding journals retained for older batches, but that is our guess. When we checked, every title in Supplementary List I was also on the Annexure I page, and all except one were missing from the common Journal List. The pages give no explanation for this, so take it as our reading and not as a rule. Suppose your journal is on an Annexure or supplementary page but you can’t find it on the Journal List. In that case write to CFR through your guide, and keep their written reply in your file before you submit.

The department lists are narrower than they look

The English and Management Studies lists came in by decision of the 42nd Research Board. Both the circulars say two things. Read them slowly. One, the added journals count only for scholars of that department, and for supervisor recognition of faculty in the same department. Two, papers communicated to or published in those journals before the circular date are not counted. What “Department of English” means is not explained anywhere in the circulars. It may mean only the university’s own department, or any recognised English research centre. If your college is an affiliated college, ask and get it clarified.

How do you check a journal against the official CFR list?

Do this check before you submit the paper. Don’t keep it for after acceptance.

1. 1

   Get the journal’s ISSNs from the journal itself

   Take the print ISSN and the electronic ISSN from the journal’s own website. Then cross-check both on the ISSN Portal. On the CFR pages many titles are shortened or spelt in a different way, so searching by ISSN is safer than searching by title.

2. 2

   Search the live CFR Journal List first

   Go to the Journal List on cfr.annauniv.edu and wait till the full table loads. Search each ISSN first and then the title. That PDF or Excel copy your friend forwarded may be some years old. Trust the live page only.

3. 3

   If it is not there, check the list for your batch and department

   If you registered between the January 2021 and July 2022 sessions, look in Supplementary List I also. Those who registered before January 2021 should open Supplementary List II. Scholars of the English or Management Studies department should open their department list as well.

4. 4

   Read the circulars issued since the list was last changed

   New journals and dropped journals are announced by CFR through Research Board circulars and regulation amendments, on the same website. For example, the October 2025 amendments added 42 journals and removed one.

5. 5

   Confirm you have the genuine journal, not a clone

   Match the journal’s website address with the one in the Web of Science Master Journal List. CFR’s circular on fake journals itself names this list for verifying that a journal is real. Title and ISSN matching but website different is how a clone journal mostly looks, so stop there and verify.

6. 6

   Keep dated evidence and tell your supervisor

   Take a dated screenshot of the CFR entry and one of the journal page, and save both. After that ask your guide to confirm the journal in the next Doctoral Committee meeting, so that it goes on record.

On the CFR site you will get a long web table and not a PDF, and it loads slowly. Let the whole table come before you say your journal is missing. The Journal List show print and electronic ISSNs in two separate columns. In the older Annexure pages there is only one ISSN.

The fake-journal circular of 21 October 2022 is very direct. Papers in counterfeit copies of listed journals “will be summarily rejected”, it says. CFR also takes no responsibility for scholars who publish in them “either out of ignorance or due to oversight”. Among the warning signs it lists are the same name and ISSN on another website, and invitations coming by email, WhatsApp or Telegram. For the wider checks, read our predatory journal guide.

What counts toward the Anna University PhD publication requirement?

These are the R2025 clauses, as amended on 23 October 2025, that the Centre for Research looks at once your synopsis reaches them.

• A full-length research article. R2025 defines “Publication” in its Definitions, item xvi. As per that, it should be a full-length, peer-reviewed research article with new findings, and the article must come out after your provisional registration. Under clause 16.2, short communications, short notes, letters and parts of a collection are not accepted.
• In a regular issue of a CFR-listed journal, in your field. As per clause 16.2 you need minimum one such article, and it has to come out of your own research work.
• Your place in the author list. You should be the first author. Second author is allowed only when your supervisor is the first author. The corresponding author has to be you, your supervisor or your joint supervisor. If a PG student is the corresponding author, that paper is not considered. In at least one paper, the authors should not be more than four. Our authorship guide explains how to settle this with your co-authors early itself.
• Or one granted Indian patent. From the amendment of 23 October 2025, “Patent” means a patent granted by the Indian Patent Office under the Patents Act, 1970. The invention has to come from your PhD work. Copyrights and design registrations are not counted. As per clause 16.4, the applicant can be only you, your supervisor or your institution, and at least one patent must have four inventors or fewer.
• Visible, and still there at the end. Clause 16.3 wants the DOI or the issue details shown on the journal’s website. The paper has to remain in the regular issue till your programme is over. Clause 17.2 asks for the volume and issue number, and a paper retracted during thesis scrutiny is not taken into account.
• Two papers for an early synopsis. You can give the synopsis up to three months before the minimum period gets over, as per clause 16.1. But for that early submission you need two full-length articles or patents in hand.

Where the regulations are silent

Clause 16.2 uses the words “has published”. It is silent on accepted or in-press papers. And clause 16.3 wants the DOI or issue details to be shown. So plan in such a way that the paper is actually out, and not only accepted, by the time of your synopsis meeting.

One more gap is there. In August 2024 a note was added to the 2020 regulations, which said papers in special issues of Q1 journals could be considered on a technical committee’s advice. R2025 does not carry that note. Counting on a special-issue paper? Get it confirmed from CFR which rule they apply for your batch.

The CFR FAQ gives the common reasons for which a synopsis is returned. A retracted paper is one reason. A paper that is not full-length is another. Then there is authorship that goes against the number-of-authors rule or the corresponding-author rule. All three you can avoid while choosing the journal itself.

If you want to compare Anna University’s rule with UGC’s national position and with other universities, read our guide to the publication requirement for a PhD.

What happens if a journal is dropped from the list?

Journals are removed by CFR through circulars. Two recent circulars show how CFR treats papers that are already in process with the journal.

• January 2025. On the 44th Research Board’s decision, the circular of 27 January 2025 removed the Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems. This came after its publisher retracted more than 450 papers in 2024. Papers accepted before the notification could still be used for the synopsis up to 31 December 2025. Papers communicated after 20 January 2025 were not to be considered. The same rule was applied for supervisor and research centre recognition.
• October 2025. Global NEST Journal was removed with immediate effect by the amendments of 23 October 2025. A paper accepted in it is considered for the synopsis only if it was communicated to the journal on or before 23 October 2025.

There is one more point in that January 2025 circular, about retraction of a paper which your thesis is using. Suppose you publish further work that matches the content already in your thesis. Then the Doctoral Committee reviews and approves it. You continue as before. If the new paper has material which is not in the thesis, you have to do the synopsis meeting again and submit a revised thesis.

Say a journal is dropped while your paper is still with it. No need to panic and first compare the cut-off date in the circular with the date on your submission email. If you are inside the window, ask your guide to write to CFR giving the manuscript number and the dates, and keep the reply safely. If you are outside it, start planning a second paper in another listed journal right now. Don’t wait for the synopsis to come back. Till your paper is out of review, open the CFR announcements once in a few weeks.

Is the Annexure I journal list the same as Annexure I in the thesis rules?

No, they are different, and the same name creates lot of confusion. The regulations have their own annexures, and those are formatting specimens and not journal lists.

In R2025, the guidelines for preparing the synopsis refer to Annexure I for the specimen cover page and title page of the synopsis. After that the thesis guidelines refer to Annexure II (title page), Annexure III (certificate) and Annexure IV (table of contents). Then come Annexure V (list of symbols and abbreviations) and Annexure VI (the certificate added in the final version after the viva). In the R2025 PDF we read, specimens are printed for Annexures I to V. The 2020 regulations had printed all six.

Sometimes the guide or the research office simply says “follow Annexure I”. Clear your doubt then and there itself, whether they mean the journal list or the synopsis cover page. Our Anna University thesis format guide explains the formatting annexures page by page.