Overview of Scopus
Scopus, launched by Elsevier in November 2004, is a comprehensive scientific abstract and citation database designed to facilitate multidisciplinary research across various fields. It serves as a significant competitor to the Web of Science, offering a robust set of features and functionalities that enhance the research experience.
Coverage and Scope
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, covering over 82.4 million records from 41,462 indexed titles, including journals, books, conference proceedings, and patents. It spans a broad range of disciplines such as life sciences, health sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, and more. The database provides coverage from 1788 to the present, making it a valuable resource for both historical and contemporary research.
Search Capabilities
Scopus offers advanced search features that cater to various user needs:
- Multiple Search Interfaces: Users can choose from Basic Search, Author Search, and Advanced Search. The Basic Search automatically searches article titles, abstracts, and keywords, while the Advanced Search allows the use of command line language, field codes, and Boolean operators.
- Flexible Search Options: Users can limit searches by date range, document type (e.g., articles, reviews, letters), and broad subject areas. The Refine Results feature enables further narrowing of search results based on source title, author name, year, document type, and subject area.
- Proximity Operators and Wild Cards: Scopus supports the use of proximity operators (e.g., PRE/n, NEAR/n) and wild cards to refine search queries, providing greater flexibility and precision.
Citation and Bibliometric Analysis
Scopus is renowned for its citation tracking and bibliometric analysis tools:
- Citation Tracking: Users can trace both forward and backward citations, linking to more recent papers that cite the article being examined and to the references cited by the article.
- Bibliometric Metrics: Journals in Scopus are evaluated using metrics such as the h-Index, CiteScore, SJR (SCImago Journal Rank), and SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper), ensuring that listed journals meet high standards of peer review quality.
Advanced Features with Scopus AI
Scopus has integrated AI capabilities to enhance research discovery:
- Seminal Papers Identification: Scopus AI identifies and displays highly cited papers relevant to the user’s topic.
- Expanded Summary and Concept Maps: Users can access in-depth summaries and visually map out links and associations between research topics, keywords, and other relevant literature.
- Leading Experts and Emerging Themes: The AI feature highlights leading experts in the field and identifies emerging themes in the literature, complete with summaries, supporting references, and potential research hypotheses.
Data Export and Management
Scopus facilitates easy data export and management:
- Export Options: Users can export up to 20,000 references at once in various formats such as CSV, BibTeX, ASCII, and RIS. This data can be integrated into bibliographic management tools like Mendeley, RefWorks, and EndNote.
- Search History and Results Analysis: Scopus records search history and allows users to analyze search results by year, source, author, affiliation, country/territory, document type, and subject area.
Additional Features
- Patent Searches: Scopus includes a dedicated patent database, although with limited functionality compared to other patent databases.
- Daily Updates: The database is updated daily, ensuring users have access to the latest research findings.
In summary, Scopus is a powerful tool for researchers, offering extensive coverage, advanced search capabilities, robust citation and bibliometric analysis, and innovative AI-driven features to streamline and enhance the research process.