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Scopus Training Module 3: Metrics

Lesson Overview

In this lesson, you will receive an overview of journal metrics and learn how to:

  • Browse sources
  • View journal metrics for a title
  • Access the CiteScore metric for a title
  • Compare sources using a variety of journal metrics

Tutorial: How to browse sources

In this video tutorial, we follow a researcher writing about emerging technologies in food processing who wants to determine which Food Science journal would be the best option for their article submission.

Note: For the best viewing experience, select the double arrows at the bottom right of the player to view the video at full screen. You can also download a written transcript of the video tutorial. Since this video was recorded in 2018, Scopus now covers inactive titles. 

Tutorial: Overview of journal metrics

In this video tutorial, we follow a doctoral student who wants to understand the relative impact of journals in Food Science before choosing one for their article submission.

Note: For the best viewing experience, select the double arrows at the bottom right of the player to view the video at full screen. You can also download a written transcript (Links to an external site.) of the video tutorial. 

Practice exercise: Browsing sources and measuring impact

You are helping Angela who is writing an article about the incidence and prevention of sports injuries and is seeking a suitable journal for her submission.

  1. Start by navigating to the Sources page in Scopus.
  2. Select Subject area and search for sports.
  3. There are two subject areas that seem relevant: “Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation” and “Orthopedics and Sports Medicine”. Select both and click Apply.
  4. Choose the filter Display only Open Access journals.
  5. For easier browsing of the remaining source titles, hide the filter options by clicking on the double arrows.
  6. Which journal has the highest CiteScore?
  7. Finally, sort by Highest percentile. How do the journals compare?

 

Note: Refer to the answer key (Links to an external site.) for this practice exercise to check your results.

Tutorial: How to view journal metrics for a title in Scopus

In this video tutorial, we follow a librarian who wants to explore journal metrics for the title Mammal Review. 

Note: For the best viewing experience, select the double arrows at the bottom right of the player to view the video at full screen. You can also download a written transcript (Links to an external site.) of the video tutorial. 

Tutorial; How to view CiteScore metric

In this video tutorial, we follow a librarian who wants to conduct a detailed exploration of the CiteScore metric for the title Mammal Review.

Note: For the best viewing experience, select the double arrows at the bottom right of the player to view the video at full screen. You can also download a written transcript (Links to an external site.) of the video tutorial.

Search for a title and view its journal metrics

In this exercise, you want to explore the journal metrics for a title of your choice.

  1. On the Sources page, choose Title and search for your chosen journal.
  2. Select the title from the list of results.
  3. What are the 2019 CiteScore, SJR and SNIP?
  4. What is the CiteScore for 2018?
  5. Return to the data for 2019 and note the subject area(s) assigned to this journal. How do the CiteScore rank and percentile compare to other titles in its subject area(s)?
  6. Finally, select Scopus content coverage. How many documents are indexed by Scopus per year for this title?

 

Note: Refer to the answer key (Links to an external site.) for this practice exercise to check your results.

Tutorial: How to compare sources

In this video tutorial, we follow a senior researcher writing a review article on brain development in children who wants to compare three titles they are considering for their journal submission.  

Note: For the best viewing experience, select the double arrows at the bottom right of the player to view the video at full screen. You can also download a written transcript  (Links to an external site.)of the video tutorial.

Practice exercise: Compare sources in Scopus

You are helping Peter who is writing a review article on energy use in office buildings.

He needs help to decide where to publish and wants to compare three titles that he is familiar with in the subject area of Civil and Structural Engineering.

The three titles are Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems, Structural Control and Health Monitoring and International Journal of Civil Engineering.

  1. On the Scopus homepage, select the Compare sources link on the right side of the screen.
  2. Choose Source Title in the dropdown menu next to the search field, and then type in each journal title in turn, adding them to the comparison chart as you go.
  3. Compare the various journal metrics for the three journals.
  4. The researcher is writing a review article – which journal has published the highest percentage of this document type?

 

Note: Refer to the answer key (Links to an external site.) for this practice exercise to check your results.