Scopus (Elsevier)
Scopus (Elsevier)
VILNIUS TECH community members can employ a full access to Scopus database.
Important! The full access to the database is available only when connecting from internal University‘s network. In order to use Scopus from external network, VPN service is required.
Scopus – is an international, globally recognized multidisciplinary bibliographic database (DB), which was launched in 2004, and is owned by Elsevier company, also known as one of the major publisher of scientific literature.
Scopus – is the main competitor to the Web of Science (WoS) DB, which up till now is considered as a “golden standard” of bibliometric data. Regarding the type and purpose, these DBs are similar, since they both are bibliographic, selective, multidisciplinary, and commercial. Only literature sources of the highest quality, selected by the strict criteria and periodically revised, are indexed in these databases
The majority of the academic community members (researchers, lecturers, and students) use bibliographic databases mainly for two purposes:
Yet, nowadays bibliographic databases are commonly used because of the journal citation indicators they provide for evaluating indexed sources (usually – journals). These metrics are important when choosing a journal for publication or deciding on subscriptions. However, they are also applied in assessing the quality of publications. In principle, this is not a good practice, as citation indicators describe the average citation rate of a whole source (usually a journal), and are therefore intended to assess the quality of the journal, not an individual publications published in it.
VILNIUS TECH community members can employ a full access to Scopus database.
Important! The full access to the database is available only when connecting from internal University‘s network. In order to use Scopus from external network, VPN service is required.
Scopus – is an international, globally recognized multidisciplinary bibliographic database (DB), which was launched in 2004, and is owned by Elsevier company, also known as one of the major publisher of scientific literature.
Scopus – is the main competitor to the Web of Science (WoS) DB, which up till now is considered as a “golden standard” of bibliometric data. Regarding the type and purpose, these DBs are similar, since they both are bibliographic, selective, multidisciplinary, and commercial. Only literature sources of the highest quality, selected by the strict criteria and periodically revised, are indexed in these databases
The majority of the academic community members (researchers, lecturers, and students) use bibliographic databases mainly for two purposes:
- Searching for the most relevant literature for studies, research, and preparation of graduation works or lectures;
- Choosing a journal for publishing.
Yet, nowadays bibliographic databases are commonly used because of the journal citation indicators they provide for evaluating indexed sources (usually – journals). These metrics are important when choosing a journal for publication or deciding on subscriptions. However, they are also applied in assessing the quality of publications. In principle, this is not a good practice, as citation indicators describe the average citation rate of a whole source (usually a journal), and are therefore intended to assess the quality of the journal, not an individual publications published in it.
General Information
Scopus content includes all disciplines and all kinds of sources and publications, which are equally accessible to the users, i.e. differently than WoS, Scopus is not composed of separate indexes and specialized databases, which may or may not be accessible depending on the subscription terms. Moreover, Scopus subscription provides access to all indexed content without any additional accessible content time span restrictions depending on the subscription type, as it is in the case of WoS.
The content indexed in Scopus covers the period of more than 230 years (the oldest entry is of 1788), and cited references are included for all documents published from 1970 (over 1.7 billion cited references).
Scopus is a multidisciplinary database, meaning that the indexed content covers all major disciplines, although not in equal proportions: the most comprehensively covered are Physical Sciences (nature, medical, health, and technology sciences). It should be noted, that Scopus provides exceptionally wide coverage of engineering sciences. However, the extent of indexed literature from Arts and Humanities is narrower, as it is also in the case of WoS DB. Despite that, Scopus is still more suitable for evaluation of sources representing these disciplines, as differently than in WoS, in Scopus all main source citation (impact) indicators are calculated for all periodical sources, no matter which disciplines they represent.
Scopus content consists of more than 82 million entries of publications published in more than 43,000 periodical sources of over 7,000 publishers. Scopus indexes various types of sources, but the majority are journals (> 40,000), along with >1,700 book series and >500 conference proceedings (according to Elsevier and Scopus Source information). Scopus also indexes trade publications (800 titles), which are not included in WoS. In addition to literature published in periodical sources, Scopus provides more than 234,000 individual books, and patents approved by the five major international patent offices, which are available to the users by the same conditions as all other indexed content.
The lists of all Scopus indexed periodical sources (including discontinued titles) and books can be downloaded at Elsevier webpage (links are provided at the bottom of the page).
The content indexed in Scopus covers the period of more than 230 years (the oldest entry is of 1788), and cited references are included for all documents published from 1970 (over 1.7 billion cited references).
Scopus is a multidisciplinary database, meaning that the indexed content covers all major disciplines, although not in equal proportions: the most comprehensively covered are Physical Sciences (nature, medical, health, and technology sciences). It should be noted, that Scopus provides exceptionally wide coverage of engineering sciences. However, the extent of indexed literature from Arts and Humanities is narrower, as it is also in the case of WoS DB. Despite that, Scopus is still more suitable for evaluation of sources representing these disciplines, as differently than in WoS, in Scopus all main source citation (impact) indicators are calculated for all periodical sources, no matter which disciplines they represent.
Scopus content consists of more than 82 million entries of publications published in more than 43,000 periodical sources of over 7,000 publishers. Scopus indexes various types of sources, but the majority are journals (> 40,000), along with >1,700 book series and >500 conference proceedings (according to Elsevier and Scopus Source information). Scopus also indexes trade publications (800 titles), which are not included in WoS. In addition to literature published in periodical sources, Scopus provides more than 234,000 individual books, and patents approved by the five major international patent offices, which are available to the users by the same conditions as all other indexed content.
The lists of all Scopus indexed periodical sources (including discontinued titles) and books can be downloaded at Elsevier webpage (links are provided at the bottom of the page).
By setting up free Scopus accounts, registered users can additionally:
- Save performed searches and their criteria (up to 200);
- Set a subscription to the newest results of performed searches (Alert);
- Select and compose individual lists of publications (up to 50), which can be saved, extended, and edited;
- Print, send to e-mail, save in PDF format saved document search results or compiled lists;
- Download lists of Scopus indexed sources (in Excel spreadsheets);
- Manage account information and review previous activities performed by the user while being signed-in (Dash Board).
Search and Futher Work with the Obtained Results
In Scopus DB interface users can perform document (publication) [1], author [2], and institution (Affiliations) [3] search. Advanced Search [5] is also available, as well as searching or browsing within all indexed periodical sources (in the Sources section) [4].
Searches performed during the session are kept in Search History [7] section, where the last 5 searches are displayed. The listed searches changes in a sliding principle with the new searches replacing the older ones, but the preview can be expanded and a full list of performed searches (up to 50) can be reviewed. Performed searches can be saved [8] only by signed up users. Additional links to information on how to conduct searches are also provided (Search Tips) [9].
Video guides on how to effectively use Scopus DB can be found at Elsevier webpage.
Searches performed during the session are kept in Search History [7] section, where the last 5 searches are displayed. The listed searches changes in a sliding principle with the new searches replacing the older ones, but the preview can be expanded and a full list of performed searches (up to 50) can be reviewed. Performed searches can be saved [8] only by signed up users. Additional links to information on how to conduct searches are also provided (Search Tips) [9].
- Queries for all search types can be formulated by applying Boolean Operators; the range of included results can be expanded by using wildcards (? – any symbol, * – varying part of the word, w/n – within, etc.); and only results matching an exact phrase can be search by inserting the phrase into brackets {} or quotation marks “”.
- The results of all search types can be further narrowed/refined by conducting a secondary search (Search within results), and/or applying various filters (Refine results) (the amount and variety of available filters depends on the type of search performed). The criteria applied for filtering/refining results can be exported (Export refine).
- The results of document searches (and analyses), compiled lists, information of individual entries, and cited references lists can be exported in different formats; printed, e-mailed, and saved in PDF format; formatted as bibliographic citations; and downloaded.
- There is no need to use language specific (accended) characters in Scopus searches, since the search include results with all possible character variations. Also, keywords mentioned in the query are searched both in singular and plural forms, and in all inflections. Meanwhile, all punctuations and stop words, such as “the”, “it”, “of”, etc., are ignored in the searches.
- Most of the data provided in the search results lists are activated (linked) and redirect to the according information (may be opened in a separate window). The numbers listed alongside filtering options are also activated and open in pop-out windows, from where a full list of results matching the particular criteria can be viewed in the separate window.
Video guides on how to effectively use Scopus DB can be found at Elsevier webpage.
Document (publication) search can be performed:
After the search obtained results list include:
In the list of direct search results [1] can be additionally:
Obtained results (document lists) [1] can be (all or only selected ones [5]):
- Within various document entry’s fields: title; abstract; keywords; authors, their affiliations, and identifiers (ORCID); DOI identifiers; information of source, funding, cited references; or within all fields (Search within);
- Additional search fields can be added (Add search field);
- The search can be limited by the time period (according to the publishing date (indicated in years), and/or by inclusion into Scopus DB date (indicated in days, by specified ranges) (Add date range)
After the search obtained results list include:
- List of documents (publications) matching search criteria [1] – direct search results
- Secondary documents [2] – publications mentioned in the reference lists of publications appearing in the direct search result list, but are not indexed in Scopus DB
- Patents [3] (if the search was very specific, patents may not appear in the results)
- Document titles, authors, publishing years, source, and citation information is provided for each document entry listed in the results.
In the list of direct search results [1] can be additionally:
- Expanded entries to show their abstracts (or an option that all abstracts were displayed (Show all abstracts) can be selected)
- Related documents for every entry in the list can be viewed
- Information of listed publications can be viewed at publisher’s website (if available, the link View at publisher is provided for the majority of entries)
- The ranking of results can be changed (by default entries are ranked by the newest date of inclusion into Scopus DB. If a different ranking criteria will be chosen, this setting will remain throughout the session, and in case of working while signed in – until this setting will be changed).
Obtained results (document lists) [1] can be (all or only selected ones [5]):
- Reviewed at Mendeley platform [4]
- Exported to a file (in various formats), or to bibliographic information management tools (Mendeley, EndNote, RefWorks). Important: the amount of results (rows) that can be exported in one session is limited: export to Mendeley includes up to 500, and all other export options – up to 2,000 results. The data can also be exported in citations only (CSV) format, allowing to export up to 20,000 rows in one file.
- Full texts of the documents can be downloaded (up to 50) [7]. Important! This option is applicable to Open Access publications and the ones which are accessible to the user according to the resources subscribed by his institution.
- Citation overviews for selected documents can be viewed [8]
- Publications citing listed documents can be viewed [9]
- References cited in the listed documents can be viewed [11]
- Selected entries can be added to list (temporal, or saved in case of working while signed in) [10]
- Bibliographic descriptions of selected entries (up to 2,000) by one of ten available bibliographic citation styles directly at the DB interface (QuikBib), or as a bibliographic file in selected format [12] can be formed.
- Search results can be refined/narrowed by conducting a secondary search within results [13] and/or applying various filtering criteria [14]
- Printed, e-mailed, and saved as PDF [16]
- Further analyzed (Analyze search results) [15]
Authors can be searched:
The search concludes with an author or a list of authors (if there are several authors with identical surnames in the database).
The information provided for each author in the list include:
Important! Author profiles in Scopus are generated by an automatic algorithm, and therefore may be incomplete and/or incorrect (e.g. publications of one author may be divided into two separate author profiles, and/or individual publications may be missing from/incorrectly assigned to the author profile). Therefore, authors are recommended to view and check the information provided in their author profile, as well as to link their Scopus profile with their ORCID profile.
Useful to know: author surnames, publication counts, and affiliations provided in the results list are interactive and redirect directly to an author profile, his/her publication list, and a profile of represented institution respectively, which may be opened in a separate window.
The profiles of authors having published only one publication indexed in Scopus are regarded as unverified. These profiles are created for researchers only starting their career, but also may be created when the algorithm cannot accurately relate the publication to an existing author profile due to the significant changes in the data employed for this assignation (surname, affiliation, publishing frequency, and/or contributed topics). Therefore, the surnames of such authors in the search results are not active. However, the profile of the author can still be reached from the publication details page (by clicking on “1” near the author at the Documents section in the results table [2]).
Author search results, when a large number of authors is obtained, may be further:
[9-12] functions activates by selecting at least one author (or all of them) in the results list [13].
- By surname. First name (or initial) can also be indicated, but is not necessary.
- By ORCID identifier.
- An institution represented by the searched author may also be indicated additionally (Add affiliation).
The search concludes with an author or a list of authors (if there are several authors with identical surnames in the database).
The information provided for each author in the list include:
- The main and alternative variants (if there are such) of author’s surname [1]
- Number of published documents (indexed in Scopus) [2]
- Author’s h-index value (based on Scopus indexed data) [3]
- Institution and country represented by the author [4]
- Ability to view the most recent author’s publication [5]
Important! Author profiles in Scopus are generated by an automatic algorithm, and therefore may be incomplete and/or incorrect (e.g. publications of one author may be divided into two separate author profiles, and/or individual publications may be missing from/incorrectly assigned to the author profile). Therefore, authors are recommended to view and check the information provided in their author profile, as well as to link their Scopus profile with their ORCID profile.
Useful to know: author surnames, publication counts, and affiliations provided in the results list are interactive and redirect directly to an author profile, his/her publication list, and a profile of represented institution respectively, which may be opened in a separate window.
The profiles of authors having published only one publication indexed in Scopus are regarded as unverified. These profiles are created for researchers only starting their career, but also may be created when the algorithm cannot accurately relate the publication to an existing author profile due to the significant changes in the data employed for this assignation (surname, affiliation, publishing frequency, and/or contributed topics). Therefore, the surnames of such authors in the search results are not active. However, the profile of the author can still be reached from the publication details page (by clicking on “1” near the author at the Documents section in the results table [2]).
Author search results, when a large number of authors is obtained, may be further:
- Sorted by any data provided in the results table (surname, document count, h-index value, represented institution, city, and country) [6]
- Narrowed by selecting an option that only exact matches of the search query would be listed [7]
- Refined by filtering obtained results by author represented institutions (affiliations), cities and/or countries (the results may be limited to the authors matching the selected filtering criteria, or such authors may be excluded from the results) [8]
- Publications [9] and their citations [10] of one or several selected authors can be viewed
- If there are more than one author profile in the results list which belong to the same author, they can be marked and a request for their merging into one profile can be ordered [11]
- The list of authors (initial, refined, or only selected entries) can be saved (personal Scopus user account is required) [12]
[9-12] functions activates by selecting at least one author (or all of them) in the results list [13].
When the name of an institution is typed into Affiliations search query field, a search system automatically generates a list of possible matches, one of which can be selected as the desired search result:
- If the institution is selected from the list of suggested matches, the user is directed straight to the profile of the selected institution.
- If the institution search is performed by the query, the institution (or several institutions) is provided in the form of results list table.
- The main and alternative name variants
- Document counts (indexed in Scopus): separately for affiliation only, indicating documents having the affiliation of the institution itself, and for whole institution, indicating all documents affiliated to the institution, including ones affiliated to institutes and other units, belonging to the institution (for institutions not having additional units this number will not be provided).
- City and country
- Refined by city and/or country (Refine results)
- Sorted by any chosen data provided in the results table (name, document counts, city, country) (Sort on)
- Documents of one or several selected institutions may be viewed in a single list (Show documents)
At the Scopus Source page all Scopus indexed periodical sources, including conference proceedings, book series, and trade publications, along with their values of the main quality indicators (citation indicators and rankings within subject areas) are provided.
At the Source page the search for a particular source by its title, ISSN number, publisher, or subject area may also be performed [5].
The list of sources (all sources, or ones obtained after the search) can be filtered by:
- The year for which the values of quality indicators are preferred to be displayed in the source table can be selected (View metrics for year) [1]
- Scopus sources are classified into subject areas based on All Science Journal Classification Codes (ASJC), and only the subject field in which the source occupies the highest ranking is provided in the source table (all subject fields to which the source is assigned can be viewed at the source profile page, or in the Scopus Source list which can be downloaded in Excel format (Download Scopus Source List [2], log in to personal Scopus user account is required).
- The sources in the table are listed by their CiteScore (more information about this indicator is provided at the top of the Source page [3]) values (in descending order), but the list may be ranked by any selected data displayed in the table by clicking on in the table heading [4].
At the Source page the search for a particular source by its title, ISSN number, publisher, or subject area may also be performed [5].
The list of sources (all sources, or ones obtained after the search) can be filtered by:
- Selecting that only Open Access sources would be displayed [6]
- Indicating minimal values for documents and/or citations published/received by individual sources during the preceding 4 years [7]
- Indicating the preferable CiteScore quartile value the source should occupy [8]
- Selecting particular type of source (journals, conference proceedings, book series, and/or trade publications) [9]
In Scopus an advanced search by 13 entry field groups can also be performed:
- Every field group can be expanded into lists of subfields with codes (Field codes).
- The subfield is added to the search query by clicking + near the selected field code. Then the searched value of the subfield should be written within the brackets (the detailed subfield description and examples appears below the query after selecting the field code).
- The search query can by formulated of multiple field codes connected by various search operators.
- The search can be narrowed by indicating author and/or institution (Add Author name / Affiliation).
- Search history of all searches performed during the session, which can be edited and/or combined.
- Pre-generated queries assembled in accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goals 2020
- The link to source comparison tool (Compare sources).
Document, Author, Institution, and Source information
In Scopus for every publication (document), author, institution, and source unique individual identifiers are generated along with corresponding profile pages, presenting detailed information.
Detailed information about every Scopus indexed document (publication) is provided on a separate document details page, and include (the types and extent of provided information may vary depending on document’s nature, type, and represented discipline):
- Document title (in English and other languages, if applicable)
- Information about the source in which the document was published (title, volume, issue, pagination/article number)
- Source’s ISSN number
- Publisher
- Document and source types (open access sources are indicated additionally)
- Document DOI identifier
- Document authors
- Author affiliations
- Publication abstract (if available)
- Keywords
- Information about chemical structures (Reaxys Chemistry database information) (if applicable)
- Options to access full-text of the document (Full text options). For open access publications a link for direct download of publication‘s PDF is provided (View PDF)
- List of sources cited in the document (References) (including ones not indexed in Scopus) and a link to view their full list in search result format
- The count of documents citing the publication (Cited by) and a link to view their full list (Citing documents)
- Suggested Related documents (based on publication’s references) with a link to view their full list, and the additional links to search for related documents by the publication’s authors or by keywords.
- The values of main publication’s quality and usage indicators (Metrics)
- Funding information (if available)
- SciVal topics – information about research topics represented by the publication. These topics represent groups of Scopus indexed documents clustered by their citation relations.
All authors of Scopus indexed publications are assigned with unique identifiers (Scopus Author IDs) accompanied with profiles (Author profiles).
The information provided in author profiles include:
* Scopus tracks preprint information and lists only the most recent versions. The preprint entry will remain in the author profile even after its publishing in peer-reviewed source. The information of individual preprints is also gathered and van be viewed in the details page, similar to ones for other documents, but preprint profiles do not include any metrics, as well as preprints are not included in calculations of metrics for other Scopus indexed documents and sources.
Document lists (both published by the author and the ones citing them) can be:
Author profiles also include a summary of the main author productivity and citation indicators (all values are calculated based on author’s publications and documents citing them indexed in Scopus):
Edit profile tool [20] allows authors to:
The information provided in author profiles include:
- The main and alternative (if there are such) author name/surname variants [1]
- Current institution represented by the author (based on the affiliation information provided in the most recent author’s publication) [2]
- All other institutions previously represented by the author and corresponding periods (Affiliation history), along with author represented Subject areas, can be viewed by expanding author information (Show all author info) [3]
- Author identifiers: Scopus Author ID [4] and ORCID [5] (if the author has associated his Scopus profile with his ORCID account)
- List of Scopus indexed author’s publications [6]
- Documents (indexed in Scopus) citing author’s publications [7]
- Non-peer reviewed documents (preprints*) derived from arXiv, bioRxiv, ChemRxiv, medRxiv and SSRN servers [8].
- Co-authors (their surnames are active and redirects to corresponding author profiles) [9]
- Research topics, to which publications are grouped based on direct citation relations (topic titles are active and allows to review topic information and author’s publications representing particular topic (in the second tab) in a pop-out window) [10]
- Projects (Awarded grants) [11]. This section is new (beta version), and currently include only projects financed by US institutions. The section is planned to be expanded by including projects from other international and national funders.
* Scopus tracks preprint information and lists only the most recent versions. The preprint entry will remain in the author profile even after its publishing in peer-reviewed source. The information of individual preprints is also gathered and van be viewed in the details page, similar to ones for other documents, but preprint profiles do not include any metrics, as well as preprints are not included in calculations of metrics for other Scopus indexed documents and sources.
Document lists (both published by the author and the ones citing them) can be:
- Sorted by any information provided in the table (first author, date, citation counts, source title) and in selected order (ascending/descending) [12]
- Viewed in document search results format [13]
- The aggregated list of documents referenced in all author’s publications (references) can be viewed [14]
- The alert for author documents can be set, which would inform the author by e-mail about his new publications being added to Scopus [15]. The alert for new citations of author’s publications can also be set [19]. Both alerts can be set only from personal Scopus user account.
Author profiles also include a summary of the main author productivity and citation indicators (all values are calculated based on author’s publications and documents citing them indexed in Scopus):
- Publication and citation counts, h-index value and a link to review the graph of its determination [16]
- Graphically visualized distribution of publication and citation counts by years (the graphic is interactive and individual elements redirect to corresponding data by clicking on them) [17]
- Topics most contributed by the author during last five years [18]. All topics contributed by the author can also be viewed [10 or View all topics].
- Author profiles also provide links to additional tools for analyzing author’s publications [22] and their citation data [23].
Edit profile tool [20] allows authors to:
- select the variant of his/her name and surname to be displayed as the main name (possible name variants are collected from author publications and the preferred name can be selected only from these variants presented in the author‘s profile).
- Change the institution displayed as the main author’s affiliation by selecting one of the institutions represented by the author (based on the affiliation information provided in author’s Scopus indexed publications)
- Add/remove publications (Search for missing documents on Scopus), non-peer reviewed documents (Search for missing preprints on Scopus), and/or projects (Search for missing Awarded grants on Scopus).
- The tool searches for potentially matching author profiles by the surname and list only profiles of authors with identical surnames. Meanwhile, it does not include profiles with slight differences in the surnames (e.g. caused by spelling errors). Therefore, if the author notice that not all of his/her documents published in Scopus indexed sources are listed in the profile, they should be searched and added by using Edit profile tool.
- If the tool finds additional profiles which belong to the author, they can be marked in the result list and requested to be added to the main author’s profile (Request to merge with author).
An exceptional advantage of Scopus DB is institutional (Affiliation) profiles presenting not only the main information about the institution (name, address) [1], but also:
At the institutional profiles registered users can set alerts to inform them by e-mail about documents published on behalf of the institution being newly added to Scopus (Set document alert).
Useful to know: publication counts (both general and sorted by sources or subject areas), as well as author counts, names of collaborating institutions and sources listed in the tables are interactive and redirects to the corresponding document/author lists and institutional/source profile pages.
- Scopus Affiliation identifier (Affiliation ID) [2]
- Alternative name variants extracted from Scopus indexed documents affiliated to the institution (in case of large, structurally complex and/or old institutions usually only a small part of detected name variations are displayed*) [3]
- Counts of documents published on behalf of the institution: separately indicating documents affiliated to the institution itself (affiliation only) [4], and documents affiliated to institution including ones published by institutes or other structural units of the institution, which also have their separate Affiliation IDs (whole institution, indicated if applicable).
- The number of authors representing the institution [5]
- The list of collaborating institutions [6]
- The distribution of institution’s publications by subject areas [7]
- The distribution of institution’s documents by sources they were published in (in this section the number of patents belonging to the institution is also provided (if applicable)) [8].
At the institutional profiles registered users can set alerts to inform them by e-mail about documents published on behalf of the institution being newly added to Scopus (Set document alert).
Useful to know: publication counts (both general and sorted by sources or subject areas), as well as author counts, names of collaborating institutions and sources listed in the tables are interactive and redirects to the corresponding document/author lists and institutional/source profile pages.
Source details pages (source profiles) present detailed information about Scopus indexed periodical sources:
The most recent values of the main Scopus source citation indicators are also provided (if available) at the sources profile [14]:
Useful to know: source profiles can also be reached from document lists (presented in search results format) and from the individual document details page by clicking on activated source title. If the title is not active, the source is not indexed in Scopus (in case of cited references), or is not serial, and thus does not have Scopus source profile. Meanwhile, the profiles of discontinued sources remain accessible in the database.
- Current [1] (and previous [2], if applicable) source title
- Open access status (if applicable) [3]
- Scopus coverage years (indicates the time-frame of source’s content available in Scopus) [4]
- publisher [5]
- ISSN/eISSN number [6]
- Represented subject areas (according to ASJC classification) [7]
- Source type [8]
- Link to the source‘s homepage [9]
- The list of all source’s publications indexed in Scopus can be viewed [10]
- Alerts for new content from the source being added to Scopus can be set (for registered users) [11]
- The source can be added to the list and saved (for registered users) [12]
- The source can be compared to other Scopus sources [13]
The most recent values of the main Scopus source citation indicators are also provided (if available) at the sources profile [14]:
- The values for indicators may not be provided (N/A) or indicated not for all indicators types in cases of discontinued sources, and/or sources just recently added to Scopus, since the data in Scopus required for calculations of indicators are insufficient (more information about Scopus provided source level impact indicators and their calculation principles is provided here >>>).
- Below the main source data a detailed information about publications and citations used to calculate CiteScore indicator values (the year of indicator can be selected [15]), and anticipated upcoming CiteScore value [16] along with the data accumulated for its calculation [17] are presented. The rank of the source in a particular represented subject area [18] (an exact ranking place [19] and its expression in percentiles [20]) according to the selected indicator year [15] is also indicated.
- In the second tab CiteScore rank & trend the list of all sources assigned to subject areas represented by the source (subject area [19] and year of displayed values [22] can be selected at the top of the list) along with source’s ranking position and a graphical visualization of the source’s CiteScore values and ranking tendencies over time in selected subject area [23] are displayed.
- The last tab Scopus content coverage [24] presents amounts of source’s publications covered in Scopus by years (numbers are active and allows to open the list of publications) along with links to their citation overviews.
Useful to know: source profiles can also be reached from document lists (presented in search results format) and from the individual document details page by clicking on activated source title. If the title is not active, the source is not indexed in Scopus (in case of cited references), or is not serial, and thus does not have Scopus source profile. Meanwhile, the profiles of discontinued sources remain accessible in the database.
Analysis tools
Scopus also provides tools allowing fast and convenient analysis of publications and authors, as well as to compare Scopus indexed sources.
- All analyses results are represented as tables and in graphical form (except for co-author information).
- Information provided in analysis results can be sorted by the analyzed criteria or by the corresponding document counts.
- It should be noted, that the numbers indicating document counts and author surnames in the tables, as well as separate elements of graphics, are interactive and allows to view the corresponding data (publication lists and/or author profiles) in the same or separate window.
- In case of document analysis, only limited number of results listed in the tables can be visualized in graphics. However, the results to be included in the graphics can be selected by marking them in the tables.
Publication (document) lists compiled in every way (search results, publications of particular author, source, or institution, or individually selected documents) can be further analyzed by using Analyze search results ir View citation overview tools, to which links are provided above the document lists:
Analyze search results tool can be opened in the same or in the separate window, and View citation overview is opened at the same window. In any case, the user can return to the document list by following link Back to results/ Back to document results provided at the top left corner of the analysis window.
Analyze search results window presents document distributions by:
Citation overview tool provides detailed information on publication citations and their changes over time.
Important! The link to the tool activates after selecting at least one document in the list. In some cases, the link to this tool may not be directly visible above the document list – it can be “hidden” along with links to other available actions:
Analyze search results tool can be opened in the same or in the separate window, and View citation overview is opened at the same window. In any case, the user can return to the document list by following link Back to results/ Back to document results provided at the top left corner of the analysis window.
Analyze search results window presents document distributions by:
- Years (according to publishing date)
- Sources
- Authors
- Author represented Institutions (Affiliations)
- Author represented countries/regions
- Document types
- Subject areas (according to ASJC classification)
- Funding sponsors
Citation overview tool provides detailed information on publication citations and their changes over time.
Important! The link to the tool activates after selecting at least one document in the list. In some cases, the link to this tool may not be directly visible above the document list – it can be “hidden” along with links to other available actions:
- Citation data analysis can be modulated by changing applied time-frame [1], and/or by excluding author self-citations [2] and/or citations from books [3].
- After selecting preferred criteria and/or specifying the time-frame, they have to be applied by clicking “update” [4].
- The results are provided in graphical [5] and table [6] formats. Their elements are interactive and redirect to the corresponding information.
- The h-index value of the analyzed documents set, as well as link to view h-index determination graph, are also provided [7].
Two tools for analyzing author‘s data are provided in the author profile:
Analyze author output provides distributions of Scopus indexed author‘s publications by sources, publication types, years, and subjects. It also includes a citation overview of author‘s publications and a list of co-authors.
Citation overview tool provides detailed information on author’s publication citations and their changes over time. The information and available actions provided in the tool are analogical to the ones in the case of document citation overview, but the modulation options are slightly different: in the case of author citation overview, in addition to excluding all co-author self-citations, self-citations of only the analyzed author can be excluded from the analysis.
Both tools also include h-index value of the author, as well as link to view h-index determination graph.
- Analyze author output – for analyzing publication data;
- Citation overview – for analyzing citation data.
Analyze author output provides distributions of Scopus indexed author‘s publications by sources, publication types, years, and subjects. It also includes a citation overview of author‘s publications and a list of co-authors.
Citation overview tool provides detailed information on author’s publication citations and their changes over time. The information and available actions provided in the tool are analogical to the ones in the case of document citation overview, but the modulation options are slightly different: in the case of author citation overview, in addition to excluding all co-author self-citations, self-citations of only the analyzed author can be excluded from the analysis.
Both tools also include h-index value of the author, as well as link to view h-index determination graph.
Scopus DB also provides Compare sources tool enabling the comparison of Scopus indexed periodical sources from various perspectives.
The tool is accessible from the source profiles and from the advanced search window.
In order to compare sources, the search of sources to be compered have to be performed in the Compare sources tool:
The results of source comparison are by default provided in graphical form (charts), but can be selected to be displayed in tables [7]
Firstly, the distribution of compared sources by their CiteScore values and their changes over time* is presented.
Below analogic comparisons of selected sources are provided, according to sources’:
SJR [9] and SNIP [10] values
Citation [11] and publication [12] counts
Percentages of published review articles [14] and not cited publications [13].
*The start point for every source may be different, since it depends on the beginning of the source‘s indexing in Scopus. However, the time-frames presented in CiteScore comparison do not coincide with sources’ indexing periods since sources obtain their CiteScore (and other source citation indicators) values only after several years of continues indexing.
The tool is accessible from the source profiles and from the advanced search window.
In order to compare sources, the search of sources to be compered have to be performed in the Compare sources tool:
- The sources can be searched by their titles, ISSN numbers, and publishers [1]
- The search can be limited to a selected subject area [2]
- The sources in the results list can be ranked by preferable criteria: sources’ CiteScore (selected by default), SNIP, and SJR values, or by ISSN numbers [3]
- The order of listed sources can be changed in ascending/descending manner by the source title [4], or by other selected [3] criteria [4]
- The main information of every source listed in the results table (publisher, source type, ISSN, period of coverage in Scopus) can be expanded (˅) for review [5].
- The list of all selected sources is provided at the top and can be edited by removing sources (x) [6]
- The set of compared sources may also be modulated at any time by selecting/unselecting sources in the source search results list
- The search can be performed repeatedly by applying different criteria, and the sources from different search results can be included in the same comparison.
The results of source comparison are by default provided in graphical form (charts), but can be selected to be displayed in tables [7]
Firstly, the distribution of compared sources by their CiteScore values and their changes over time* is presented.
Below analogic comparisons of selected sources are provided, according to sources’:
SJR [9] and SNIP [10] values
Citation [11] and publication [12] counts
Percentages of published review articles [14] and not cited publications [13].
*The start point for every source may be different, since it depends on the beginning of the source‘s indexing in Scopus. However, the time-frames presented in CiteScore comparison do not coincide with sources’ indexing periods since sources obtain their CiteScore (and other source citation indicators) values only after several years of continues indexing.
SciVal – is an analytical tool designated for a rapid, convenient and comprehensive assessment and analysis of scientific output. The tool utilizes data from Scopus database, covering over 55 M publications (from 1996), published in over 27,000 serial sources by over 5,000 publishers. These data allow to analyze the scientific output of over 24,000 scientific institutions and their researchers from over 230 countries.
The tool consists of separate analysis modules, allowing to assess and visualize the coverage, impact, and prioritized areas of scientific research, evaluate the progress by comparing the data within various contexts and levels; discover collaboration and even financing opportunities, identify the most relevant and the most perspective research areas and their trends, and to generate various reports.
Overview module
This module allows to evaluate scientific output of a selected institution (or their group, e.g. entire alliance), of a researcher (or research group), of a country or a region, or published in a particular Scopus indexed source by various aspects and in accordance with the selected science classification scheme. The overview provides the numbers of publications and their views, citation data, the most prominent research topics, the most productive authors, awarded grants and their financing information, technological impact of publications (patent citations), and even societal impact (media mentions (in English media). Publications can be additionally assessed by their represented scientific categories, their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Scopus sources and their represented quartiles (Q) based on the selected metric (CiteScore, SJR, or SNIP). Moreover, the main indicators of scientific output used in the global university rankings (QS, ARWU, THE) are also provided with the ability of further analysis (in case of THE rankings), which are highly relevant in assessing university’s progress and in formulating future strategies. All aforementioned aspects can also be applied in evaluating individual research areas, topics or their clusters, as well as any other publication sets.
Benchmarking module
This module is especially useful in determining research priorities and formulating strategies since it allows to assess the progress and strongest points of analyzed entities as well as trach their changes in time within the contexts of all levels (from individual researchers to countries and regions). It should be noted that entities of different types and levels can be analyzed together at the same time (e.g., you can benchmark individual researchers or publication sets against whole institutions, research areas, countries, regions, and so on).
Collaboration module
This module allows to assess current and potential collaboration opportunities based on publication and their citation data visually (in the map) or in the table format within global, country or region, or specific sector context.
Trends module
This module is dedicated to assess general indicators and tendencies in particular research areas and to identify countries or regions, institutions and researchers who have excelled in a specific field. The organizations that funded the most research in the analyzed research area, the sources indexed by Scopus, where the research from that field was published most often, and the key phrases or words used most often in the analyzed research area are also distinguished in this module.
Report module
This module allows to rapidly generate data reports of analyzed entities by using report templates provided by SciVal or by their partners, or by creating customized reports. In any case, separate parts of reports can be easily edited. Reports can also be compiled from or enriched with the data generated within other analysis modules.
Within all modules the performed analysis can be specified by changing the time-frame and/or applying additional filters. It is also possible to choose the metrics and indicators to be used in the analysis. It should be noted, that all modules are interrelated. Therefore, while transferring from one module to another, not only the analyzed entity (if applicable according to the analysis type), but also all additional previously applied filters remains fixed within the modules.
All data, their visualizations (graphs), publication sets, and reports generated in SciVal can be saved, exported, and shared with other SciVal users (in this case, the registration to the SciVal account is required).
SciVal can also be used to analyze external data. For instance, you can import and analyze the results of search performed in Scopus database.
Access
The tool is accessible from the Scopus database website interface:
Or via internet address: https://www.scival.com/
Assess to the tool requires registration, but if you have a personal Scopus account, you do not need to create a new account – you can sing-in to SciVal with the Scopus account’s credentials.
Additional information about the SciVal tool and its usage
The very home page of the tool provides a wealth of information and additional links about the SciVal tool and how to use it:
Detailed description is provided on the Elsevier website.
More detailed and in depth information about the SciVal modules and their application, along with the practical examples, is also provided at the SciVal Support Center webpage and in the introductory webinar Introduction to SciVal: Build your views on global research.
The tool consists of separate analysis modules, allowing to assess and visualize the coverage, impact, and prioritized areas of scientific research, evaluate the progress by comparing the data within various contexts and levels; discover collaboration and even financing opportunities, identify the most relevant and the most perspective research areas and their trends, and to generate various reports.
Overview module
This module allows to evaluate scientific output of a selected institution (or their group, e.g. entire alliance), of a researcher (or research group), of a country or a region, or published in a particular Scopus indexed source by various aspects and in accordance with the selected science classification scheme. The overview provides the numbers of publications and their views, citation data, the most prominent research topics, the most productive authors, awarded grants and their financing information, technological impact of publications (patent citations), and even societal impact (media mentions (in English media). Publications can be additionally assessed by their represented scientific categories, their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Scopus sources and their represented quartiles (Q) based on the selected metric (CiteScore, SJR, or SNIP). Moreover, the main indicators of scientific output used in the global university rankings (QS, ARWU, THE) are also provided with the ability of further analysis (in case of THE rankings), which are highly relevant in assessing university’s progress and in formulating future strategies. All aforementioned aspects can also be applied in evaluating individual research areas, topics or their clusters, as well as any other publication sets.
Benchmarking module
This module is especially useful in determining research priorities and formulating strategies since it allows to assess the progress and strongest points of analyzed entities as well as trach their changes in time within the contexts of all levels (from individual researchers to countries and regions). It should be noted that entities of different types and levels can be analyzed together at the same time (e.g., you can benchmark individual researchers or publication sets against whole institutions, research areas, countries, regions, and so on).
Collaboration module
This module allows to assess current and potential collaboration opportunities based on publication and their citation data visually (in the map) or in the table format within global, country or region, or specific sector context.
Trends module
This module is dedicated to assess general indicators and tendencies in particular research areas and to identify countries or regions, institutions and researchers who have excelled in a specific field. The organizations that funded the most research in the analyzed research area, the sources indexed by Scopus, where the research from that field was published most often, and the key phrases or words used most often in the analyzed research area are also distinguished in this module.
Report module
This module allows to rapidly generate data reports of analyzed entities by using report templates provided by SciVal or by their partners, or by creating customized reports. In any case, separate parts of reports can be easily edited. Reports can also be compiled from or enriched with the data generated within other analysis modules.
Within all modules the performed analysis can be specified by changing the time-frame and/or applying additional filters. It is also possible to choose the metrics and indicators to be used in the analysis. It should be noted, that all modules are interrelated. Therefore, while transferring from one module to another, not only the analyzed entity (if applicable according to the analysis type), but also all additional previously applied filters remains fixed within the modules.
All data, their visualizations (graphs), publication sets, and reports generated in SciVal can be saved, exported, and shared with other SciVal users (in this case, the registration to the SciVal account is required).
SciVal can also be used to analyze external data. For instance, you can import and analyze the results of search performed in Scopus database.
Access
The tool is accessible from the Scopus database website interface:
Or via internet address: https://www.scival.com/
Assess to the tool requires registration, but if you have a personal Scopus account, you do not need to create a new account – you can sing-in to SciVal with the Scopus account’s credentials.
Additional information about the SciVal tool and its usage
The very home page of the tool provides a wealth of information and additional links about the SciVal tool and how to use it:
Detailed description is provided on the Elsevier website.
More detailed and in depth information about the SciVal modules and their application, along with the practical examples, is also provided at the SciVal Support Center webpage and in the introductory webinar Introduction to SciVal: Build your views on global research.
-
- Page administrators:
- Jolanta Juršėnė
- Asta Katinaitė-Griežienė
- Olena Dubova
- Orinta Sajetienė
- Marta Širokova
- Ugnė Daraškevičiūtė