diff --git a/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/extraabstracts/Indexing.java b/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/extraabstracts/Indexing.java
index 95b3442..9b7c0fa 100644
--- a/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/extraabstracts/Indexing.java
+++ b/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/extraabstracts/Indexing.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ static long indexAllExtraAbstracts(String dataFolderWithFiles) throws Exception
                             .field("pubmedId", StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson(article.pubMedId))
                             .field("title", StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson(article.docTitle))
                             .field("publicationDate", StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson(StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson((article.publicationYear))))
-                            .field("publicationYear", new Integer(article.publicationYear))
+                            .field("publicationYear", article.getPublicationYear())
                             .field("abstract", StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson(article.docAbstract))
                             .endObject()
                     )
diff --git a/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/medline/Indexing.java b/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/medline/Indexing.java
index 3a1539f..f56e709 100644
--- a/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/medline/Indexing.java
+++ b/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/medline/Indexing.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static long indexArticlesBulk(Client client, List<PubMedArticle> pubMedArticles)
                             .field("title", StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson(article.docTitle))
                             .field("publicationDate", StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson(article.publicationMonth +
                                                              " " + StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson((article.publicationYear))))
-                            .field("publicationYear", new Integer(article.publicationYear))
+                            .field("publicationYear", article.getPublicationYear())
                             .field("abstract", StringEscapeUtils.escapeJson(article.docAbstract))
                             .field("meshTags", article.meshTags)
                             .endObject()
diff --git a/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/medline/PubMedArticle.java b/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/medline/PubMedArticle.java
index 5cd00bf..0afff75 100644
--- a/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/medline/PubMedArticle.java
+++ b/src/main/java/at/medunigraz/imi/bst/medline/PubMedArticle.java
@@ -33,4 +33,20 @@ public String toString() {
                "ABSTRACT: " + this.docAbstract + "\n" +
                "MESHTAGS: " + this.meshTags + "\n";
     }
+    
+	public int getPublicationYear() {
+		int ret = 0;
+		
+		if (publicationYear == null) {
+			return ret;
+		}
+
+		try {
+			ret = Integer.parseInt(publicationYear);
+		} catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+			return ret;
+		}
+		
+		return ret;
+	}
 }