Publication Forum Steering Group has approved major changes to the JUFO classification

The changes concern the structure of the classification, the criteria, the quotas and the calculation of publication volume, as well as other aspects to be taken into account in the evaluation.

Level 3 will be removed from the classification

The Publication Forum Steering Group decided to abolish Level 3. Therefore, in the update evaluation to be carried out in 2026, the Publication Forum evaluation panels will no longer classify journals into JUFO Level 3.

There has been lengthy discussion in the panels and in the Steering Group on whether Level 3 should be retained or discontinued. It was finally decided to abolish Level 3, because, based on surveys carried out among panel members and stakeholders, the distinction between Levels 2 and 3 is considered the least significant and the least credible. It also treats different disciplines more unequally than the distinction between Levels 1 and 2.

Removing Level 3 will reduce the pressure on organisations and researchers to concentrate their publishing activities in a narrow range of publication channels and will decrease the inappropriate use of the JUFO classification in evaluating individuals. Levels 1 and 2 are sufficient to take scientific quality aspects into account in the universities’ funding model. The removal of Level 3 will also reduce the workload of the Publication Forum panels in the update evaluations carried out every four years.

The reform has been scheduled to align with the current contract period of the universities’ funding model so that the discontinuation of Level 3 will not affect the calculation of university funding for the years 2025–2028. The funding for 2028 will be calculated in June 2027, based on the combined results of the previous three publication years (2024–2026).

JUFO Level 3 will be removed from the search filters and publication channel listings of the Tiedejatutkimus.fi portal and the JUFO portal, but it will remain available in the annual evaluation history of the publication channel database and the JUFO portal. Publication-level information on belonging to JUFO Level 3 will not be removed retroactively from the publications stored in the national research information database.

With the removal of Level 3, the combined publication volume of series classified at Level 2, including the former Level 3, may be at most 25 per cent of all series (Levels 1–2) in each panel. Approximately 100 book publishers may be classified at Level 2, and the selections will be made jointly by the panel chairs.

Name of Level 0 will be changed

From the beginning of 2026, the term “Level 0” will no longer be used. Instead, the term “other identified publication channels” will be introduced for those publication channels that have not been classified as JUFO Level 1 or 2, or that have not been defined as professional or popular/science communication publication channels. Changes to the publication channel database and the JUFO portal will be implemented by the beginning of 2026.

The Steering Group’s justification for this change is that the new term is a more neutral way to refer to publication channels identified in various contexts that have not been accepted at Level 1. Level 0 channels have often been associated with the perception that they are somehow of poor quality or have features of predatory journals. However, the group is heterogeneous. The class also includes many publications that are properly peer-reviewed but local, new, or situated at the interface between professional and popular/science communication publishing.

Changes to the classification criteria

Changes have been made to the criteria for the Publication Forum (JUFO) classification. They will enter into force at the beginning of 2026.

Changes to Level 1 criteria

In line with the transparency criterion (criterion 2) for Level 1, the publication channel’s website must provide a transparent description of the editorial board and the peer review process. Under the Steering Group’s decision, this criterion will in future also apply to book publishers.

The relevance criterion (current criterion 7) will be split into two separate criteria: relevance (criterion 7) and diligence (criterion 8). Relevance means that the publication channel is central from the perspective of the international or Finnish scholarly community in its field. Diligence means that the primary aim of the publication channel is to promote and ensure scientific quality, and that its editorial and peer review practices are diligent and reliable.

Changes to Level 2 criteria

The criteria concerning Finnish- and Swedish-language publication channels will be amended by removing the criterion that has required research questions to be strongly contextualised within Finnish society or Finnish- and Swedish-language culture.

The Steering Group also decided that where there are equally influential and highly regarded publication channels in the same field eligible for Level 2, preference will be given to channels published by scholarly societies and to channels that enable immediate open access and long-term availability of publications in an economically sustainable manner.

Further information:

Special Adviser Leena Wahlfors / Secretariat of the Publication Forum
Federation of Finnish Learned Societies
leena.wahlfors(at)tsv.fi