# The Journal Coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: a Comparative Analysis

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.08096 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1511.08096/

## Key facts

- Cited by 14 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 25 Nov 2015.

## Built on by (most cited first, 14 of 14)

- [Network Analytics for Anti-Money Laundering -- A Systematic Literature Review and Experimental Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.19383/) (2024)
- [Evaluation of Embedding Models for Automatic Extraction and Classification of Acknowledged Entities in Scientific Documents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.10939/) (2022)
- [Citation Parsing and Analysis with Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.15948/) (2025)
- [Fraud Analytics: A Decade of Research -- Organizing Challenges and Solutions in the Field](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.04329/) (2022)
- [Artificial intelligence technologies to support research assessment: A review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.06574/) (2022)
- [Capturing research literature attitude towards Sustainable Development Goals: an LLM-based topic modeling approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.02943/) (2024)
- [Adapting CRISP-DM for Idea Mining: A Data Mining Process for Generating Ideas Using a Textual Dataset](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.00574/) (2021)
- [Return migration of German-affiliated researchers: Analyzing departure and return by gender, cohort, and discipline using Scopus bibliometric data 1996-2020](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.08340/) (2021)
- [Machine Learning-Based Disease Diagnosis:A Bibliometric Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.02755/) (2022)
- [MachineLearnAthon: An Action-Oriented Machine Learning Didactic Concept](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.16291/) (2024)
- [Documentation Practices of Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.18620/) (2024)
- [Movement Control of Smart Mosque's Domes using CSRNet and Fuzzy Logic Techniques](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.18123/) (2024)
- [The Right to Be Remembered: Preserving Maximally Truthful Digital Memory in the Age of AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.16206/) (2025)
- [Thematic Dispersion in Arabic Applied Linguistics: A Bibliometric Analysis using Brookes' Measure](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.15328/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Bibliometric methods are used in multiple fields for a variety of purposes, namely for research evaluation. Most bibliometric analyses have in common their data sources: Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (WoS) and Elsevier's Scopus. This research compares the journal coverage of both databases in terms of fields, countries and languages, using Ulrich's extensive periodical directory as a base for comparison. Results indicate that the use of either WoS or Scopus for research evaluation may introduces biases that favor Natural Sciences and Engineering as well as Biomedical Research to the detriment of Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities. Similarly, English-language journals are overrepresented to the detriment of other languages. While both databases share these biases, their coverage differs substantially. As a consequence, the results of bibliometric analyses may vary depending on the database used.