A question Cabells is often asked about the coverage of journals in its database products is, ‘How do you find out about them?’ This is not an easy question to answer, as there are so many reasons for a journal to come to our attention, for good or bad – editor recommendation, new launch, author complaints, user feedback, and customer engagement are just some of the ways we are alerted to a journal so we can pass it on to our team of experts to assess.

In 2016, an online poll was set up in the UK to name a new, multi-million-pound research vessel. Many good suggestions were made, but once ‘Boaty McBoatface’ was suggested online, it started to garner huge support and eventually won a third of all the votes cast. Embarassed, the UK government decided to call it the Sir David Attenborough but was forced to hastily revert to the popular choice when it faced howls of protest.