Scopus is here!
The University Libraries are proud to announce the availability of Scopus, a database focused on scholarly publications in the sciences and social sciences. The unique and powerful ability gained from using Scopus is the ability to not only find relevant articles on your topic, but to determine the scholarly value of your results.
While the search interface functions like many other databases-- enter any combination of search terms and fields (author, title, abstract, etc), the results from those searches are where Scopus differentiates itself. Users can sort results by clicking on the “Documents,��? “Authors,��? “Date, “Source Title��? or "Cited By��? tabs. In addition to offering quick access to abstracts and some full-text articles, Scopus also allows users to track articles that have cited each item in your result list. If, for example, you’re deciding between including two articles in your research, looking at the far right hand column, “Cites��? of the search returns, lets you see the number of times an article has been cited. Clicking on that number brings up those very articles. Such functions have been used for promotion and tenure decisions (Scopus also offers several tools to analyze an institution’s, publication’s, or author’s scholarly output and influence – contact a Reference Librarian for further information.)
The very user-friendly and accessible format lets casual searchers and beginning researchers becomes more familiar with how scholarly thought has progressed from one article to succeeding publications. Setting up an account lets users utilize the “citation tracker��? feature, where users may receive updates when newly published articles cite a chosen article or author. All results and analyses can be exported to any number of end-user external programs – including Excel, RefWorks and EndNote.
There’s a lot to do and see in Scopus, so it’s nice that there is a thoroughly researched, well-presented and readable “Help��? function. You can find it as a running header throughout your searches in the top right hand corner of every page. Clicking on the help icon brings up answers to almost every question one might have about Scopus.
Scopus is accessible through the Databases and Indexes link on the University Libraries main web page. If you need help using Scopus or any other resource, feel free to drop by the reference desk or call us at 442-3691 to make an appointment, or Ask a Librarian!
Blog post created by Michael V. Daly