At the current stage of development of science and scientometrics, one of the key criteria for evaluating a scientific journal is its indexation in the Scopus or Web of Science databases. Both of these platforms are widely recognized and popular among researchers. Nevertheless, at the stage of planning and submitting a scientific article, scientists often face the question: which to prefer - Scopus or Web of Science? This dilemma is also solved by the specialists of Scientific Publications, which provides services for publishing in both databases.
Overview of legislative requirements for Scopus and Web of Science journals:
At the legislative level, certain requirements have been established to achieve scientific goals such as the awarding of scientific titles. These requirements include the number of scientific articles as well as scientometric indicators of journals. In Poland, publication in Scopus and Web of Science journals is treated equally. Some specific requirements may exist for certain scientific purposes, but the decision to choose a database is usually made by the author of the article based on the knowledge of the characteristics of Scopus and Web of Science.
Comparison of Scopus and Web of Science:
It is impossible to state unequivocally that one database is better than the other. Scopus and Web of Science complement each other, but have differences. When choosing a journal for publication, one should take into account the functionality, interface and nature of the materials to be posted. It is important to pay attention to the following aspects:
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Scopus and Web of Science focus on different characteristics of scientific publications. Despite the fact that some metrics have similar names, such as "quartile" and "percentile", their calculation is based on different indicators: CiteScore or SJR (Scopus), JIF (Web of Science).
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Web of Science has a greater depth of scientific citation, while Scopus focuses on contemporary sources.
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Scopus emphasizes the humanities more, while Web of Science emphasizes the exact sciences.
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Scopus was created later but has a larger volume of indexed data.
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Different structure of databases, e.g. Web of Science Core Collection.
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Databases have different systems for linking to other resources and bibliographic managers, which may affect the usability of the research. For example, Scopus and SciVal, Web of Science and InCites. This is due to the fact that Scopus is owned by Elsevier and Web of Science is owned by Clarivate.
Dual indexing: Scopus and Web of Science
Some journals are indexed in both databases, minimizing the dilemma of choosing between Scopus and Web of Science. However, such publications are usually subject to a strict selection policy due to their high scientometric characteristics.
It is up to the researcher to decide which database journal to choose, but it is important to take into account the peculiarities of each of them. The company "Scientific Publications" is ready to provide professional consultation and free audit of a scientific article for successful publication in the rating publications Scopus or Web of Science. We look forward to working with you!
