Policy Development and the SCOPUS Citation System: Part 4: The Work of the Content Selection Advisory Board 2020 – 2021
Policy Development and the SCOPUS Citation System: Part 4: The Work of the Content Selection Advisory Board 2020 – 2021
SCOPUS is a key component of an academic information system which has been developed by the Dutch company Elsevier BV for the provision of information on the performance of authors, journals, books, publishers, faculties and institutions to Universities, Corporations and Governments around the world. It functions in respectful competition with the Web of Science, which is owned by Clarivate Analytics.
Trust and Quality Assurance are central to the societal value of bibliometric systems. The SCOPUS Content Selection Advisory Board (CSAB) was appointed in 2009 to oversee the quality of SCOPUS content through the SCOPUS Title Evaluation Programme (STEP) and to provide independent advice to Elsevier on related matters.
The development of consistent policies has been central to the work of this Board, thorugh a period from 2009 onwards when the entire academic publishing landscape has evolved and changed radically in consequence of :
- The expansion of the Internet and its enabling technologies:
- The development of the open access movement, and the adaptations of publishers to it.
- The transition from paper to web-based technology, and the centrality of the journal website;
- the transition from subscription based funding to “Author Pays” and “Article Processing Charge” (APC) based systems.
- the industrialisation of publication fraud to secure personal and commercial advantage by gaming the methodologies of bibliometrics; and
- the explosive growth of generative Artificial Intelligence technologies .
In previous essays in this series, I have described the work of the SCOPUS CSAB from 2009 to 2019 in the development of policy and related matters. In this essay, I describe the policy and development work of the Board through the Covid pandemic of 2020-2021.
SCOPUS, Content Selection Advisory Board, Bibliometrics, Web of Science, Publishing Ethics, Publication Malpractice, SCOPUS Radar
University of Southampton
Rew, David
36dcc3ad-2379-4b61-a468-5c623d796887
2 March 2026
Rew, David
36dcc3ad-2379-4b61-a468-5c623d796887
Rew, David
(2026)
Policy Development and the SCOPUS Citation System: Part 4: The Work of the Content Selection Advisory Board 2020 – 2021
(Essays in the Art and Science of Academic Journal Editing and Publishing)
University of Southampton
53pp.
Record type:
Monograph
(Working Paper)
Abstract
SCOPUS is a key component of an academic information system which has been developed by the Dutch company Elsevier BV for the provision of information on the performance of authors, journals, books, publishers, faculties and institutions to Universities, Corporations and Governments around the world. It functions in respectful competition with the Web of Science, which is owned by Clarivate Analytics.
Trust and Quality Assurance are central to the societal value of bibliometric systems. The SCOPUS Content Selection Advisory Board (CSAB) was appointed in 2009 to oversee the quality of SCOPUS content through the SCOPUS Title Evaluation Programme (STEP) and to provide independent advice to Elsevier on related matters.
The development of consistent policies has been central to the work of this Board, thorugh a period from 2009 onwards when the entire academic publishing landscape has evolved and changed radically in consequence of :
- The expansion of the Internet and its enabling technologies:
- The development of the open access movement, and the adaptations of publishers to it.
- The transition from paper to web-based technology, and the centrality of the journal website;
- the transition from subscription based funding to “Author Pays” and “Article Processing Charge” (APC) based systems.
- the industrialisation of publication fraud to secure personal and commercial advantage by gaming the methodologies of bibliometrics; and
- the explosive growth of generative Artificial Intelligence technologies .
In previous essays in this series, I have described the work of the SCOPUS CSAB from 2009 to 2019 in the development of policy and related matters. In this essay, I describe the policy and development work of the Board through the Covid pandemic of 2020-2021.
Text
David Rew CSAB Policy Devt Part 4 2020-2021 02.03.2026
- Author's Original
More information
Published date: 2 March 2026
Additional Information:
David Rew, MA MB MChir (Cambridge) FRCS (London)
Honorary Consultant Surgeon to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, UK
And to the Clinical Informatics Research Unit.
Former Editor in Chief of the EJSO, The European Journal of Surgical Oncology, 2003-2009
Subject Chair for Medicine to the SCOPUS Content Selection Advisory Board, Elsevier BV,
The Netherlands, 2009 to the Present
Keywords:
SCOPUS, Content Selection Advisory Board, Bibliometrics, Web of Science, Publishing Ethics, Publication Malpractice, SCOPUS Radar
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 509755
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509755
PURE UUID: 3a761bcd-d7e6-4857-8e02-ddd56f208e2c
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Date deposited: 04 Mar 2026 17:35
Last modified: 05 Mar 2026 02:57
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