EI Compendex
(Engineering Index) is the most comprehensive bibliographic database of
scientific engineering research available today. It is owned by Elsevier
and hosted on the Engineering Village platform.
- Scope: It covers millions of papers
from thousands of journals and conference proceedings across 190
engineering disciplines (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, etc.).
- Value: In many countries
(especially China, Malaysia, and parts of Europe), publishing an
"EI-indexed paper" is a strict requirement for PhD graduation,
academic promotion, or grant funding.
- Prestige: It is generally
considered higher tier than Google Scholar but (usually) slightly lower
than SCI/SSCI (Web of Science) for journals, though it is the top tier
for conferences.
How to Check if a Conference/Journal is
EI Indexed
There are two ways to check: the Historical
Check (using the database) and the Official List Check (using the
spreadsheet).
Prerequisite: You need access to Engineering Village (www.engineeringvillage.com). This is a paid service, so you
must log in via your university library's network.
Method 1: The "Historical
Check" (Best for Conferences)
Conferences are not "indexed"
automatically forever; they are indexed year by year. To check if a 2026
conference is likely to be indexed, you must check its history.
- Go to Engineering Village: Log in
through your library.
- Select Database: On the search bar,
look for the "Database" option. Uncheck "Inspec"
and "GEOBASE". Ensure only "Compendex" is
selected.
- Search the Name: Type the
conference acronym (e.g., "ICRA") or the full name in the search
box.
- Analyze Results:
- Good Sign: If you see papers from
2025, 2024, and 2023, the conference is stable.
- Bad Sign: If the last indexed
paper is from 2019, the conference has likely been dropped. Do not
submit.
Method 2: The "Official List
Check" (Best for Journals)
Elsevier publishes an official Excel list
of all currently covered titles.
- Search Google: "Elsevier
Compendex Source List 2026".
- Download: Get the Excel file from
the official Elsevier website.
- Search Excel: Use Ctrl+F to find
the Journal Title or Conference Series Name.
- Verify Status: Check the
"Coverage" column. It should say "Stable" or
"Active."
The "Inspec" Trap: Don't Be
Fooled
This is the most common reason papers get
rejected for graduation credit.
Engineering Village hosts two main databases:
- Compendex: The "Core"
engineering index (High Value).
- Inspec: A physics/electronics index
(Good, but often not accepted as "EI" by universities).
The Scam:
Predatory conferences will say "Indexed in Engineering Village!"
This is a word game. They might only be in Inspec, not Compendex.
The Fix:
When searching, if the record says "Database: Inspec" at the
bottom, it is NOT EI Compendex. It must explicitly say "Database:
Compendex".
Summary Checklist
Before you pay the registration fee for a
conference, confirm these 3 points:
- Did I find the previous year's proceedings (e.g., 2025)
inside Engineering Village?
- Did the record specifically say "Database:
Compendex"?
- Is the publisher (IEEE, Springer, ACM) reputable?
If the answer to all three is YES,
the conference is safe.
