Reputed Indexing: Scopus vs Web of Science
Journal indexing advantage is for reputation and reaches, providing greater impact potential for journals and the scholars publishing in them. The scientific community has published an enormous amount of research articles in different research areas. Efficient and authentic databases are needed to get access to these research articles. The most common platforms used by the researchers are Scopus and Web of Science. These are the largest citation-based databases. They can be used for searching and analyzing various scientific publications, literature reviews, conference proceedings, books and book chapters. Apart from helping in regular literature surveys, Scopus and WoS databases also provide a source for the ranking of journals. The journal ranking is based on the total citations received in a particular year which leads to an impact factor of the journal. In terms of comparison, Scopus offers a more extensive list of modern sources with a more user-friendly interface. Web of Science, on the other hand, provides the in-depth citation by source and provides a large amount of scientific literature that has been published in the past.
Elsevier launched Scopus in 2004 as an overview and reference database. Scopus includes 34,346 participant publications in top-level topic categories such as biological sciences, social sciences, physical sciences, and health sciences, with over 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 inactive titles) from 11,678 publishers. There are three types of periodicals: book series, journals, and trade journals. Each year, the h-Index, Cite Score, SJR (SCImago Journal Rank), and SNIP (SCImago Journal Impact Factor) are used to evaluate all journals in the Scopus database for acceptable high quality (Source Normalized Impact per Paper). Searches of patent databases are also included in Scopus searches.
Web of Science is a unified academic platform that enables customers to access, assess, and publish database content fast. Because of the establishment of an ontology, or shared language, for a wide variety of search phrases and data, this is achievable. Furthermore, search words produce information that is cross-category. If information is appropriate for Web of Science, it must pass an inspection and selection method based on the following criteria: impact, influence, timeliness, peer review, and geographic representation. There are a variety of search and analysis tools available on Web of Science. The first step is to employ citation indexing, which is made easier by the ability to search across disciplines for results. An idea’s influence, effect, history, and technique may all be traced back to the first occurrence, observation, or recommendation.
| Details | Web of Science | Scopus |
|---|---|---|
| Managed By | Clarivate Analytics | Elsevier Publishing |
| Year of launching | 1960 | 2004 |
| Subscription | Yes | Yes |
| Covered Items | Peer-reviewed sources, conference proceedings, book series | Peer-reviewed sources, patents, conference proceedings, book series, articles in the press |
| Coverage timespan | 1900-present (Science) | 1966-present (for some journals) |
| 1956-present (Social Science) | 1996-present (for most journals) | |
| 1975, present (Art and Humanities) | ||
| Citation tracking | 1900-present | 1996-present |
| Citation per article | Retrieves fewer citations than Scopus or Google Scholar | Retrieves more citations than WoS, particularly from non-English sources |
| Number of indexed peer-reviewed journals | 13,000 (Approx.) | 36,000 (Approx.) |
| Journal impact indicator | Available | Available |
| Individual performance indicators ( the h index) | Available | Available |
| Main feature/motto | Selective coverage of Journals based on the scientific quality and impact | Comprehensive coverage of journals |
Both Scopus and Web of Science complement each other. Scopus interface is considered more user-friendly as there is an advantage of the implementation of a sourcing system by individuals. It has a list of all the modern sources. On the other hand, Web of Science provides in-depth search results. It also serves as a platform for scientific publications from the past.
By Sachin Rana | October 19, 2021
Master’s in Commerce Studies,
Aligarh Muslim University.