Scopus
Publishing & metrics
A large abstract-and-citation database of peer-reviewed literature, widely used to assess journal indexing and research impact.
Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database, indexing peer-reviewed literature across the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. For research students it functions both as a search tool for the literature review and as a marker of journal quality.
Publication in a Scopus-indexed journal carries weight in Indian doctoral requirements, faculty recruitment and promotion, and is frequently a condition for thesis submission. Journals are evaluated by an independent Content Selection and Advisory Board and can be discontinued if standards slip, so indexing status is not permanent.
Its journal metrics are CiteScore, SJR (SCImago Journal Rank, which weights citations by the citing journal's prestige) and SNIP (which normalises for field citation practices). Always verify indexing directly on the official Scopus source list rather than trusting a journal's own website, since misrepresenting indexing status is a common predatory-publisher tactic.
Where it's used
- Verifying journal indexing before submission
- Citation tracking and author metrics
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