EI is a global database, similar to HowNet in China. But not all articles can enter EI, and all the articles entered represent authority and high quality. Therefore, EI is called the global core and is recognized by every country.

It is generally used for evaluation of masters, doctors, associate professors and professors. After the papers published by the author in international conferences or magazines are included in EI, some domestic authorities can issue EI inclusion certificates to the author. There are two types of EI retrieval: CA and JA.