[Paper Review] Geographical and Disciplinary Coverage of Open Access Journals: OpenAlex, Scopus and WoS

Abdelghani Maddi, Marion Maisonobe+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Oct 22, 2024

scientometrics and bibliometrics researchDecision Sciences3 citations

TL;DR

This study compares the geographical and disciplinary coverage of open access (OA) journals across OpenAlex, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS), using the ROAD database as a reference. It finds that while OpenAlex offers broader inclusivity—indexing 34,217 of 62,701 active OA journals—significant regional and disciplinary biases persist, particularly underrepresentation of African and emerging country journals, despite greater balance than WoS and Scopus.

ABSTRACT

This study aims to compare the geographical and disciplinary coverage of OA journals in three databases: OpenAlex, Scopus and the WoS. We used the ROAD database, managed by the ISSN International Centre, as a reference database which indexes 62,701 OA active resources (as of May 2024). Among the 62,701 active resources indexed in the ROAD database, the Web of Science indexes 6,157 journals, while Scopus indexes 7,351, and OpenAlex indexes 34,217. A striking observation is the presence of 25,658 OA journals exclusively in OpenAlex, whereas only 182 journals are exclusively present in WoS and 373 in Scopus. The geographical analysis focusses on two levels: continents and countries. As for disciplinary comparison, we use the ten disciplinary levels of the ROAD database. Moreover, our findings reveal a striking similarity in OA journal coverage between WoS and Scopus. However, while OpenAlex offers better inclusivity and indexing, it is not without biases. WoS and Scopus predictably favor journals from Europe, North America and Oceania. Although OpenAlex presents a much more balanced indexing, certain regions and countries remain relatively underrepresented. Typically, Africa is proportionally as under-represented in OpenAlex as it is in WoS, and some emerging countries are proportionally less represented in OpenAlex than in WoS and Scopus. These results underscore a marked similarity in OA journal indexing between WoS and Scopus, while OpenAlex aligns more closely with the distribution observed in the ROAD database, although it also exhibits some representational biases.

Motivation & Objective

• To assess the geographical and disciplinary coverage of open access (OA) journals in OpenAlex, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS).
• To identify disparities in representation of journals from different continents and countries across the three databases.
• To evaluate the extent to which OpenAlex aligns with the comprehensive ROAD database reference, especially in terms of inclusivity and bias.
• To investigate whether OpenAlex reduces the geographical and disciplinary biases observed in WoS and Scopus.
• To provide empirical evidence on the strengths and limitations of OpenAlex as a comprehensive OA journal index.

Proposed method

• Used the ROAD database (managed by the ISSN International Centre) as the reference dataset, indexing 62,701 active OA journals as of May 2024.
• Mapped journal coverage across OpenAlex, Scopus, and WoS by comparing their indexed OA journals against the ROAD reference.
• Conducted geographical analysis at the continent and country levels to assess regional representation.
• Performed disciplinary comparison using the ten-level classification system from the ROAD database.
• Quantified exclusive journal inclusions in each database to identify unique coverage.
• Analyzed representational biases by comparing proportional journal representation across regions and disciplines.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How does the geographical coverage of OA journals in OpenAlex compare to that in Scopus and WoS?
• RQ2 To what extent does OpenAlex reflect the disciplinary distribution of OA journals as recorded in the ROAD database?
• RQ3 What proportion of OA journals are uniquely indexed in OpenAlex versus Scopus or WoS?
• RQ4 Are there persistent regional biases in OpenAlex’s indexing, particularly for African and emerging country journals?
• RQ5 How similar is the OA journal coverage between WoS and Scopus compared to OpenAlex?

Key findings

• OpenAlex indexes 34,217 out of 62,701 active OA journals in the ROAD database, representing 54.5% of the total.
• Scopus indexes 7,351 OA journals, while WoS indexes 6,157, indicating significantly lower coverage compared to OpenAlex.
• 25,658 OA journals are exclusively indexed in OpenAlex, highlighting its broader inclusivity compared to Scopus (373 exclusive) and WoS (182 exclusive).
• Despite greater inclusivity, OpenAlex still underrepresents journals from Africa proportionally at the same rate as WoS and Scopus.
• Emerging countries remain proportionally less represented in OpenAlex than in WoS and Scopus, indicating persistent biases.
• WoS and Scopus show a striking similarity in OA journal coverage, favoring journals from Europe, North America, and Oceania, while OpenAlex offers a more balanced but still imperfect distribution.