[Paper Review] A Comparison between Two Main Academic Literature Collections: Web of Science and Scopus Databases

Arezoo Aghaei Chadegani, Hadi Salehi+5 more|RePEc: Research Papers in Economics|May 2, 2013

scientometrics and bibliometrics research17 citations

TL;DR

This paper conducts a comprehensive comparison of Web of Science and Scopus, two major academic literature databases, evaluating their qualitative and quantitative characteristics. It finds that while both databases are highly effective for literature searching and journal ranking, Scopus has broader coverage and faster update cycles, whereas Web of Science offers more rigorous selection criteria and higher citation accuracy, leading to the conclusion that the choice depends on specific research needs and priorities in coverage versus precision.

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, the worlds scientific community has been publishing an enormous number of papers in different scientific fields. In such environment, it is essential to know which databases are equally efficient and objective for literature searches. It seems that two most extensive databases are Web of Science and Scopus. Besides searching the literature, these two databases used to rank journals in terms of their productivity and the total citations received to indicate the journals impact, prestige or influence. This article attempts to provide a comprehensive comparison of these databases to answer frequent questions which researchers ask, such as: How Web of Science and Scopus are different? In which aspects these two databases are similar? Or, if the researchers are forced to choose one of them, which one should they prefer? For answering these questions, these two databases will be compared based on their qualitative and quantitative characteristics.

Motivation & Objective

• To evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of Web of Science and Scopus as primary academic literature databases.
• To address common researcher questions about which database is more efficient or objective for literature searches.
• To assess the two databases in terms of their qualitative and quantitative characteristics, including coverage, citation indexing, and journal impact metrics.
• To provide evidence-based guidance for researchers selecting between Web of Science and Scopus for their literature review and research evaluation needs.

Proposed method

• The study compares Web of Science and Scopus based on their selection criteria, scope, and coverage across scientific disciplines.
• It evaluates the databases' citation indexing practices, including how they handle citations and calculate impact factors.
• The analysis includes a comparison of journal ranking systems used by both databases to assess journal influence and prestige.
• The researchers examine update frequency and timeliness of data entry, which affects the currency of literature searches.
• The study uses qualitative and quantitative metrics to assess database performance, including journal coverage and citation accuracy.
• The comparison is grounded in published data and metadata from both databases, with a focus on real-world research application.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How do Web of Science and Scopus differ in terms of their selection criteria and journal inclusion policies?
• RQ2 In what ways are Web of Science and Scopus similar in their approach to indexing and citation tracking?
• RQ3 Which database offers broader coverage across scientific disciplines and more up-to-date data?
• RQ4 Which database provides more accurate and reliable citation metrics for journal impact assessment?
• RQ5 If forced to choose one, which database is more suitable for comprehensive and precise literature searches?

Key findings

• Scopus has broader coverage than Web of Science, including more journals and a wider range of disciplines.
• Web of Science exhibits higher citation accuracy due to its more rigorous selection and quality control processes.
• Scopus updates its database more frequently than Web of Science, resulting in timelier access to new publications.
• Both databases use citation-based metrics to rank journals, but Web of Science's Journal Impact Factor is more widely recognized in certain academic communities.
• The study concludes that while Scopus offers greater breadth and speed, Web of Science provides greater precision and reliability in citation data.