More than two years ago, we published a material where we reviewed the basic rules for checking the indexing of a journal in Scopus But working with researchers, we determined that this topic is still very relevant for scientists. Therefore, we propose to remind you how to check the indexing of a journal in Scopus and consider situations that can be confusing.
Checking the indexing of a Scopus journal: basic rules
If you are in doubt when choosing an edition for publication in Scopus, check its indexing using:
- Scopus Source List is an Excel spreadsheet that contains information about all journals (as well as books, conference proceedings, etc.) indexed in Scopus. The file includes data about recently added or removed editions. Besides, editions in the table often appear earlier than in the database itself.
- Checking in the database – on the Scopus website, you can search the journal and see its publication history. The "coverage discontinued in Scopus" message means that the publication has been removed from the database.
- Contact Support. If you have any doubts about the indexing of a journal in Scopus, contact specialists. Elsevier supports the initiative of scientists to identify manipulative and fraudulent activities in the field of science and scientometrics.
Please note that the presence of an indexing mark on the journal's website itself does not guarantee its indexing in Scopus. Therefore, always check the publication in the ways listed above.
Why might the Scopus coverage years vary?
In theory, checking the indexing of a journal in Scopus is not a very difficult process. But why does it cause difficulties for many researchers? Let's consider the most controversial cases:
Case 1. Indexing to a specific year
For example, on the page of the Archiwum Medycyny Sadowej i Kryminologii Scopus journal, the indexing period ranges from 1974 to 1983, and from 2002 to 2020. But we can't find the exception flag. In addition, this edition is marked as active in the Scopus Source List. This means that the journal continues to be indexed in this database. But Scopus did not receive content from the publisher in 2021 and 2022. The reason for this may be various factors that should be clarified with the editorial office. Often, these journals just don't issue material often.
In this context, the onset of a new calendar year is an instructive example. For example, in early 2023, the Ca-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians has coverage range "from 1950 to 2022". And the Discussiones Mathematicae - Graph Theory has coverage "from 2009 to Present". This does not mean at all that the first edition (moreover, with an impeccable reputation and the highest scientometric indicators) was excluded from the database. It’s just that the second journal has already indexed several materials in 2023.
Elsevier's policy also allows for the option for a "discontinued" note appearing on the journal's page if Scopus does not receive content from it for 3 years. If the material is submitted by a publisher, this mark will be removed after the Scopus Source page is refreshed.
If the publisher discontinues the journal, the "discontinued" mark also appears after 3 years. This is an automatic process.
Case 2. Indexing "past" and "future" materials
Let us recall that the Scopus database was officially launched in 2004. But now you can find publications with years of coverage from the 50-90s of the twentieth century. Why so? At the time of the database launch, more than 56 million records were added to it from various sources: Embase, ScienceDirect and Compendex, Scopus Title Suggestion Form and Medline and others. Even now, the year of the publication included in the database does not always coincide with Scopus coverage years. It depends on the materials that pass Elsevier's quality checks.
The situation is similar with the indexing of "future" materials. For example, if the coverage page indicates the year is "until 2024". This does not mean that the journal will be excluded this year. This specific coverage of content indicates that the publication has begun to form editions "in advance". Most often this happens due to a large number of high-quality materials sent to the editorial office. Therefore, some journals have formed editions for 2024, submitted the content to Scopus and indexed it. This is shown on the journal page.
A prime example of such cases is the Brazilian Journal of Biology. Years of Scopus coverage range from 2000 (before the official launch of the database) to 2024 (editions formed more than a year in advance).
It is also worth noting that such materials often are indexed "in advance” as Article in Press. This mark means that the article has already been fully accepted for publication and is indexed in the database. Moreover, it is displayed in the author's profile and is even available for citation. The only caveat is that the article is considered pre-published before the release of the corresponding edition of the journal. After its release, the status of the material changes to "Finish".
This does not make the Article in Press model worse than the final version of the publication. On the contrary, many scientists prefer to publish materials in this way. After all, this contributes to an increase in scientometric indicators even before the release of an edition.
Case 3. Database update
We recommend scientists to check the indexing of a publication not only within the database, but also in the Scopus Source List. As practice shows, sometimes you can find much more necessary information in this table, compared to the database itself. Of course, the file is less convenient to use, but it helps to keep track of all the news in the context of the latest inclusions and exclusions from the database.
For example, in November 2022, the Carbon Neutrality edition was included in Scopus, which we will learn about in the Scopus Source List.
But we do not find information about this in the Scopus database itself.
This is due to the fact that the information in the database has not yet been updated. The same situation may arise with the list of excluded publications. This is especially due to the fact that Scopus is actively implementing frequent monthly exclusions from the database. For example, the International Journal of Biology and Biomedical Engineering was excluded in November 2022.
Therefore, we advise scientists not to neglect the information in the Scopus Source List and regularly check the indexing of journals. In turn, the Scientific Publications company regularly publishes a list of excluded Scopus journals and publishes information about this on its blog.
Case 4 Content indexing: what remains in the Scopus database?
It is worth noting that the coverage of the Scopus journal for 2021 does not mean that all materials for this year were excluded from the database. You can find out which articles continue to be indexed on the “Scopus content coverage” tab. For example, in November 2021, the TESOL International Journal was excluded. But in the Scopus database, 86 documents continue to be indexed this year. You can get acquainted with them on the “Scopus content coverage” tab.
Also, the Scopus Source List indicates that the latest indexed issue in Scopus of this journal is: 2021, volume 16, edition 5, pages 205-240.
In other words, if the author published their paper in this edition before (or in) the specified issue, the article will be counted as a publication in Scopus and suitable for scientific purposes. If the publication was published in the next issue, unfortunately, it will not be indexed in Scopus.
Therefore, we urge scientists to monitor all database updates very carefully and always check the indexing of the journal in Scopus.
Case 5. New name of the journal
Sometimes the publisher of the journal decides to rename the publication and change the data about it. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to whether information about this is indicated within the database. For example, ARCHIWUM MECHANIKI STOSOWANEJ is displayed as excluded from Scopus, but its page has the mark “Continued as” with a link to the new name of the journal.
On the new page of the publication we see that it continues to be indexed in Scopus.
The previous version of the edition was not excluded from the database in the classical sense. The indexation of the journal has been stopped due to the change of information about it. Now the publication continues to be indexed in Scopus under a different name.
Why indexing should not be checked in SJR?
Researchers often make the mistake of equating Scopus and Scimago Journal Rank. Indeed, the SJR service is an important research source that collaborates directly with Elsevier. But you should not focus on it in the context of indexing publications. Why so?
SJR updates journal data once a year due to recalculation of metrics. Scopus updates the list of publications every month. Therefore, the excluded edition will be displayed in the Scimago Journal Rank until the next recalculation of the metrics. The situation is the same with newly included journals. Until the metrics are updated, data about them will not be available.
The discussions at the bottom of the SJR magazine page can be helpful in the context of publishing activities. Sometimes they leave comments there regarding the unfair activities of publications or the presence of clones/twins.
*date of publication of the material is January 11, 2023. All journal indexing data is used as an example. If you decide to check out their pages, the indexing information may be different. Information in Scopus is updated dynamically and on a regular basis.
As you can see, the process of selecting a journal for publication in Scopus is very multicomponent. The above are only the most common situations that the author may encounter. There are many other subtle nuances that it is simply impossible to address without the help of a specialist. In order not to make a mistake with the choice of a journal for publication, contact the Scientific Publications company. We constantly monitor and comprehensively evaluate the activities of each publication, which contributes to the realization of your scientific goal!
As a reminder, the recent material "Scopus and Web of Science international databases vs. Google Scholar. A comparative analysis" was published
