Scientometric platforms are of great importance for each scientist. The most popular among them are Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. They are global international scientific literature aggregators. As such, each scientist should understand their main operation principles. Today we will analyze their operation peculiarities and work with their key criteria algorithms.
Platform registration
Scopus or Web of Science: to register on a platform and create an author's profile, it is necessary to first publish the first article in a magazine, indexed by a specific database. A full-fledged profile will be visible after a second publication (Scopus). Web of Science allows one to register on a basis of a Researcher ID without any published works.
Databases are commercial platforms, and the subscription is not free. Scientists can acquire a corporate subscription by asking the scientific institution or university, in which they work.
Google Scholar: Platform registration is available for every researcher regardless of scientific work numbers or their publication. We have described every aspect of registration in the platform earlier.
The platform does not imply any paid services (except for the works, which only have a free preview).
Uploading a scientific work
Scopus or Web of Science: the first published work will be added to the profile automatically. Other works will be added similarly. There may be issues with several authors' profiles, improper transliteration, and others.
Google Scholar: the platform will automatically find any works, related to the author after registration. The scientist needs to manually select their works from the list or manually upload them. While it substantially simplifies the work, it may also add the wrong author's work.
Material selection
Scopus or Web of Science: these databases index scientific articles, books, and conference proceedings, which undergo a careful selection and review procedure. Scientific journals that are indexed by the database are divided according to the parameters of influence: quartiles, percentiles, citation indices, and others. Relevant specialists constantly monitor the quality of scientific material, and conduct periodic checks, according to the results of which some publications are excluded from the database.
Many works are published in the English language. Other language materials are a small percentage.
Google Scholar: this platform has a much wider coverage of scientific material. It focuses on all works that can be found on the internet. All types of materials are included: articles, monographs, dissertations, conference proceedings, individual entries, and more. Unfortunately, it often includes "non-scientific materials".
Material moderation is absent. Google Scholar includes both English materials and all regional languages.
Connected services
Scopus or Web of Science: these platforms are the property of Elsevier and Clarivate respectively. As such, Scopus or Web of Science is part of these scientific giants.
Scopus, for example, is tied to the SciVal analytical service, Mendeley bibliographical manager, ScienceDirect, Evolve, ClinicalKey, and other platforms. Web of Science – with InCite, EndNote, JCR, ProQuest, MarkMonitor, and others.
Google Scholar: this platform is a part of other Google services, such as Google Chrome and Google Books.
Primary metrics and evaluation of the author's activity
Scopus or Web of Science: the primary scientometric metrics of the platforms are citation index and h-index. All data is in the author’s profile. A detailed overview of the data in a graphical form is also presented: by year, topic, influence, etc.
In-depth analysis is also present through the SciVal and InCite services.
Google Scholar: primary scientometric metrics of the scientific activity are citation index, h-index, and i10-index. A graphical representation of citations by year is present. Extended analytics are not included.
Functionality
All three analyzed platforms have similar functions and include search by author, scientific materials, magazines, organizations, extended search, material view, download, cite following certain style, and publication selection.
Not every function is identical. Their usage is directly tied to the above-mentioned peculiarities of the platforms.
A comparative analysis: Scopus and Web of Science international databases vs. Google Scholar
|
Scopus and Web of Science |
Google Scholar |
Fee |
The full version requires a subscription, the free version has several restrictions |
Free |
Platform registration |
The profile is created after a first publication (Scopus) Web of Science profile creation is possible without any publications |
Profile creation is possible without publications |
Material upload |
Automatically (sometimes manually) |
Manually by selecting publications or manually adding material information |
Materials search |
Within the base |
On the internet |
Can be used as a bibliographical manager? |
Yes, including basic functions |
Yes, including basic functions |
Can be used to select a magazine to be published into? |
Yes |
Yes |
Moderation |
Yes, constant moderation |
Practically non-existent |
Scientometric metrics |
Citation index, h-index |
Citation index, h-index, i10-index |
Extended analytics |
Yes |
Practically non-existent |
Material coverage |
Only materials, indexed within the base |
Whole internet |
Connected services |
Elsevier and Clarivate ecosystem |
Google ecosystem |
Indexed materials |
Mainly scientific articles, conference materials, books |
All scientific materials |
Language |
Mostly English, with a small percentage of regional languages |
Practically every regional language |
If you have any questions regarding Google Scholar usage – we will be happy to consult You. "Scientific Publications" company also offers "Google Scholar citations" service, which will help scientists to improve their scientometric metrics within the platform. Leave a form on a website and we will contact You today!
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