Scopus Help Guide

• Database Information: Scopus
• Searching Scopus
• Accessing Full Text
• Exporting Results from Scopus
• Saving Results/Personal Account in Scopus
• Auto Alerts in Scopus
• Scopus Tutorials
• Scopus and Manifold

Scopus

Scopus is an extensive abstract and citation database that provides comprehensive coverage of peer-reviewed journals, books, conference abstracts, and patents across the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Using Scopus, you can:

• Create customized searches for peer-reviewed literature across many disciplines

• View citations to journal articles
• Access the full text of documents provided by subscriptions through the University Libraries
• View profiles for authors indexed by Scopus, which include measures of scholarly impact like h-index and publication counts

This wealth of available data makes Scopus useful for searching for literature that can help you with your research and determining the impact of scholarly works. 

Searching in Scopus

You can search Scopus for documents, authors, and affiliations, as well as create advanced searches customized to your needs.

Searching for documents
On the Scopus home page, you can search for documents based on search terms provided in article titles, keywords, publication names, and many other facets. To begin, enter your search terms in the field provided and use the dropdown box to specify which fields to search. 
 

You can repeat this process to include additional search terms in different fields. You also have the option to specify date range, document type, and subject areas for the returned results. When you complete your search, the results are presented in a list as shown below.

From this view, you can sort results, refine the results, export and download records, and access complete records for publications. Clicking on a result title opens the full Scopus record for the publication. To access the full text of a record, you can click the Full Text Options to get to the Find It or View at Publisher buttons.

Searching for authors
To search for authors, click the Author search tab above the search box. 

Here you can search for authors and documents they have published based on name, keyword, and even ORCID. 

You can also narrow your search by exact matches only or by limiting results to specified subject areas. Each author returned in the results list links to a page that profiles their publications and citations as well as provides measures of their scholarly impact.

Searching for affiliations
To search for affiliations (i.e., institutions), click the Affiliation search tab above the search box. 

Here, you can search by institution name, such as University of Minnesota.

Results from this search link to affiliation profiles that provide access to documents and authors associated with the respective institution. In addition, these profiles provide some statistics of an affiliation’s scholarly output, including documents by subject area, documents by publication source, and collaborating institutions.

Creating advanced searches
Scopus provides the option of creating advanced searches to customize the results that are returned. To do this, click the Advanced search tab above the search box. 

In this page, you are provided a text box where you can specify all the parameters of your search using the field codes listed.

When using Library resources, the FindIt link is your connection to accessing the full text of articles if a PDF link is not already visible.

This short video will show you how to get to the articles you need for your research paper or other University of Minnesota assignments. Never pay for articles! If we don't have it online, request it and we will get it for you. 

Scopus allows you to export results lists (including all search results, ‘My Lists’ and ‘Saved Lists’), documents and documents references. These can be exported either to a file or a reference management tool (e.g. EndNote, Zotero).

1. Select the document or documents you would like to export.
2. Click the ‘Export’ link. A list of file or reference management tools will appear. 
3. If this is the first time you are exporting, select your reference management tool or file type.
4. Once you choose your file type or reference management tool, an export options box will appear.  Choose what citation information you want to export.  You can also save this template as a preference. Then click Export.
5. Your export begins.

Personal account

You can create an Elsevier account for free.   With an Elsevier account you can save a search from any documents results list, or from within your current search history.

You can setup and manage alerts in Scopus

From a search results list, click ‘Set alert’. The Set search alert page opens.

1. From the Set search alert page or Set Alert pop-up, enter a ‘Name of alert’.
2. In ‘E-mail address’, enter the email address for alert notifications.
   This field automatically displays the email address entered when you first registered to use Scopus.
   You can also enter email addresses of colleagues. Separate multiple email addresses with a semicolon, comma, or space, or press ‘Enter’ on your keyboard. If a colleague unsubscribes from the alert, you will receive an email informing you of the action.
3. From ‘Frequency’, select how often you want to receive alert email notices. For weekly alerts you can choose which day of the week you receive the alert, and for monthly alerts you can choose which day you receive the alert.
   Note: If there are no new documents matching your alert criteria during the time-frame or frequency you choose, you will not receive an alert.
4. Click on "set search alert" to save the alert.
5. Once you have created your Alert, it can be accessed on the Alert page.  On that page you can select ‘Active’ or ‘Inactive’ as the status of your alert.
   You can change this setting on the Alerts page without losing your frequency preferences. Setting an alert to ‘Inactive’ status does not delete the alert.

Scopus Tutorials: Scopus tutorials provide a visual tour of Scopus and its functions, but are without sound. The tutorials below are also found in the relevant FAQs in the Scopus Support Center.

• Scopus Tutorial: How to conduct a basic search (2022 July 12): 3:10 min

• Scopus Tutorial: How to use advanced search (2022 July 13): 3:04 min.

• Scopus Tutorial: How to Expand Your Search (2022 July 13): 2:32 min.

• Scopus Tutorial: How to Create Citation Overview (2022 July 22): 2:48 min

• Scopus Tutorial: Understand how author profiles work (2022 July 21): 2:14 min.

• Scopus Tutorial: How to save searches and set alerts (2022 July 13): 2:13 min.

Scopus and Manifold

Scopus is useful for learning and research. Beyond serving as simply a citation index, however, it is also useful for assessing scholarly impact. As a result, data from Scopus form the foundation for Manifold, one of the University's research impact tracking systems.

What is Manifold?
Manifold is a web-accessible interface that generates profiles and reports of research impact and scholarly output for faculty and departments in the University of Minnesota Medical School. Built in response to emerging expectations and needs around faculty scholarship, Manifold harvests publication data from Scopus, including citation counts, to provide metrics of research impact and productivity for Medical School faculty and departments. In addition, Manifold provides an easy mechanism for identifying nominees for the Wall of Scholarship, which showcases research excellence among Medical School faculty. As more needs around assessment emerge at the University, the system continues to be enhanced to meet new demands on the data that Scopus provides on faculty scholarship.

For more information about Manifold, please consult the Manifold Frequently Asked Questions page.