Scopus Help Guide

Search for information from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Covers the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.

Database Information: Scopus

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 Scopus

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. 
 

Scopus Search Page

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.

Scopus Search Results

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.

Scopus Title Record
 

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

Scopus Author Search

 

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.

Scopus Author Details Page

 

 

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

 

Scopus Affiliation Search
 

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.

Scopus Affiliation Record

 

 

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. 

Scopus Advanced Search

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

 

Getting full text

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. 

 

Exporting Results From Scopus

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 Exportlink. 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.

Saving Results/Personal Account in Scopus

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.

Note: The Saved searches feature is only available when you have created an account and signed into Scopus.
 
Create a Saved search
  1. Run a document search or an advanced search. A document search results page opens.
  2. From your document search results, click Save search’ which appears to the left of your search results. The "Save this search" popup opens.
  3. From within the Save this search popup, enter a name for the new Saved search.
  4. Click ‘Save’. Your search is saved and can be accessed by clicking on the Saved Searches link located above the Search History.
Note: You can save up to 200 searches.
 

Lists

If you are not signed into Scopus, you have the option to add selected documents from your results list to a temporary session-based list.   When you sign out of Scopus, the documents in your temporary list are deleted.  If you are signed into Scopus, you have the option to save documents to a list which may be accessed anytime you are signed into Scopus.  You can rename, edit, delete, add documents to, or export your lists of documents in Scopus account. These lists are available any time when you sign in to Scopus and can be modified or exported according to your research needs.

Access your Saved lists from your profile manager located in the top right corner (your initials in a circle). A drop-down menu displays. Click ‘Saved lists’. The Saved lists page opens.

Auto Alerts in Scopus

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: 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 and Manifold

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.

Last Updated: Aug 28, 2023 2:20 PM