Database Digest

Scopus is an interdisciplinary database containing citations and abstracts for articles published in more than 14,200 peer-reviewed journals from more than 4,000 international publishers.  It is the largest citation and abstract database in the world. Scopus covers all of the journals in MEDLINE, plus thousands of additional titles. 

Scopus has very broad subject coverage and will retrieve articles from the fields of medicine as well as chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, social sciences, psychology, economics, and general biological, agricultural and environmental sciences.

This user-friendly, comprehensive database can be easily and successfully searched using keyword/natural-language search methods. Results are accurate and comprehensive, and the interface allows users to scan and evaluate results quickly.

Special features include:

Citation Tracking — For articles published from 1996 on, Scopus provides a list of the articles cited in the bibliographies of each article.  For all articles, Scopus provides information on other articles in Scopus that have cited that article.  Both citation lists allows users to link immediately to related research published prior to and after a particular article.

Web Search – While searching the database of peer-reviewed journals, Scopus also performs an integrated search of the scientific web.

Full Text — Scopus links to full-text articles in journals held by GWU.

Related Documents – This feature allows the user to conduct a search for all articles in Scopus that share one or more references with the original article.

Scopus can be searched using the Basic Search, Advanced Search, and Author Search features. New users can easily search the database using the Basic Search, which will automatically search the article title, abstract, and keywords for the terms that you provide.  You can also use the pull-down menu to select a specific field in which to search for terms (ex. Authors, Source Title, etc.).  Basic Search also permits users to limit a search by date (ex. 1990 – Present), by document type (ex. Article, Review, Letter, etc.), and by broad subject area (ex. Health, Life Sciences, etc.).

Advanced Search allows experienced users to use command line language, field codes, and Boolean operators.  Codes for common field names are provided as well as a link to a complete list of field names and codes.

Author Search provides fields to enter an author’s last name and first name or initials.