Learning from Scopus's Discontinued Sources

Scopus, through its Content Selection and Advisory Board (CSAB), evaluates journals that are added to its database in order to ensure their quality. Scopus places a premium on content quality. A journal must undergo a rigorous evaluation and selection process before being included in their database index. Additionally, these journals must demonstrate their ability to maintain a high standard of quality year after year.

Scopus periodically conducts a re-evaluation program to identify outliers and underperforming journals. It performs this identification process according to four distinct criteria[1]: 1) the journal is underperforming because it does not meet one of the three metrics and benchmarks for journals in the same subject area (metrics and benchmark problems); 2) the journal's or publisher's publication standards are of questionable quality as a result of official complaints (publication concern); 3) the journal exhibits outlier behavior as measured by their Scopus publishing performance (Radar); and 4) continuous curation results based on CSAB feedback.

Among the numerous reasons for a journal's removal from Scopus, publication concerns appear to be the primary ones. Publication-related issues can arise at both the publisher and journal levels. Scopus has identified or has been notified of these publication ethics concerns by the research community. As of February 2021, 415 (62.59 percent) of the 663 journal titles had been discontinued due to publication-related issues[2]. As of February 2021, 14 out of 18 journals have publication concerns.

We will monitor problematic journals from a publication concern standpoint based on the list of additional discontinued titles as of February 2021. To begin, we will examine the growth of the number of articles published in the journals year after year. The growth in the number of articles published in several journals. For example: Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health increased by 164 percent between 2019 and 2020; the International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology increased by 170 percent between 2018 and 2019; the International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences increased by 184 percent between 2019 and 2020; and the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research increased by 268 percent. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy have increased significantly, by 1,502 percent (2019 - 2020). The European Journal of Molecular and Clinical Medicine experienced an extraordinary increase of 40,400 percent! (2018 - 2020).

Apart from the dramatic increase in the number of articles, we can also observe a mismatch between the article titles and the areas covered by journals. The following are a few examples that the author encountered.

1. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health

This journal covers a variety of topics in medicine, most notably public health, environmental health, and occupational health. Several of the articles in this journal appear to be in the field of marketing. Here are some examples of titles of marketing articles published in this journal: Impact of social media on the way marketing is done in football clubs; Brand loyalty and shoe attributes preference of indian national basketball players; and others.

2. Elementary Education Online

The journal's subject area is education, and the journal's scope is research on elementary education. The journal's mission statement says unequivocally that it exists to disseminate knowledge about elementary education, including theory, teaching quality, instructional planning, design, and educational technology. However, some articles published in this journal are not relevant to the journal's purpose. For instance: The analysis of adolescents attitude to social media and their loneliness level; Examining the children’s perceptions of child rights; The effect of quality of life work on organizational commitment: A comparative analysis on school administrators and teachers; and others.

3. European Journal of Molecular and Clinical Medicine

As implied by its title, the journal's subject area is molecular and clinical medicine. According to the journal's website, its topics include immunology and microbiology, as well as biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. However, this journal contains numerous articles that have nothing to do with this field and constitute research in Indonesia. The following are some illustrations: Digital Literacy of Teachers in Online Learning at Elementary School in Bandung City; Teachers' interpretation and behavior in conducting a Clean and Healthy Lifestyle Program at elementary schools in Kediri District; and others.

4. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy

This journal publishes articles on a variety of topics in the fields of pharmacology, toxicology, and pharmaceutics. However, a number of the articles published in this journal appear to cover accounting and human resource management topics. The following are some examples: Usefulness of accounting information systems for businesses; Leaders' change promoting behaviors, leader charisma, and commitment to change as the antecedent of employee performance; The effect of transformational leadership on employee performance mediated by leader-member exchange (LMX); Enhancing employee performance with work motivation as a mediation variable; The effect of system user support on accounting information systems; Accounting information systems evaluation of medicines management; The effect of accounting training on accounting information in small and medium micro enterprises; and many more.

5. Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

This journal includes the term "Security," which may cause confusion. The term security refers to both safety and securities (shares). However, if we look at the journal's scope, we see that it is concerned with research on safety. This journal is published by a military academy in Lithuania, specifically by the General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy. While this is not within the scope of the journal, the articles published in it are ultimately related to the field of accounting economics. Scopus eventually discontinued this journal due to its inconsistency regarding its scope.

While articles published in journals that have been delisted from Scopus do not necessarily indicate that the articles are of low quality, it would be encouraging if our papers were published in high-quality journals. Based on the two points made above, here are the conclusions that we can draw from the discontinued Scopus sources if we want to ensure that our papers are published in journals that adhere to Scopus's publication rules. To begin, send articles to journals with titles that are clear and relevant to our field of writing. Second, ensure that the journal's purpose and scope align to the content of our writing. Third, avoid publishing in journals with a large number of issues (including special issues) and an excessive number of articles. Take note of the year-over-year growth in the number of articles published in the journal. If growth is significantly accelerated, such a journal should be avoided.

*Proofread by Adrian B. Coen