Guide on the Side: Scopus

Short Description

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This tutorial will provide you with a short description of Scopus database and teach you how to search this online resource.

Navigating through the Tutorial

Use the bottom arrows to proceed through the tutorial.

Throughout this tutorial you will see a number of exercises which you are encouraged to try on your own.

Short Description

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Scopus is a European multidisciplinary database containing over 28 million records from over 14,000 peer-reviewed journal titles. Subjects covered include life and health sciences, physical sciences, social sciences and humanities.

The basics of Scopus searching

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To access Scopus, go to the library eDatabases web page and click letter S.

Scroll the page down to find Scopus link, select it and log in with your MCPHS username and password.

Enter your search term(s) or phrase(s) into the Search for box. If necessary, you can add numerous search boxes by clicking Add Search field.

If you use more than one search box, please select a Boolean operator from the drop-down list. You can use one of the following options:

AND Results must contain all your terms. Example: dental hygienist AND patient.
OR Results must contain either one of the terms you entered. Example: allergy OR hypersensitivity.
AND NOT Exclude this term from the results. Example: insomnia AND dietary supplements AND NOT valerian.

The basics of Scopus searching

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You want to find articles on drug therapy for diabetes in children.

In which search query Boolean operators are used correctly?

drug therapy AND diabetes AND child drug therapy OR diabetes OR child drug therapy AND diabetes OR child

The basics of Scopus searching

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Useful search hints:

Scopus does not use any controlled vocabulary, or subject headings. To search this database, you can only use keywords. In order to make your search more effective, use synonyms combined by the operator OR.

To search for phrases, use quotations "... ".

Use asterisk as a wildcard to replace any number of characters.

The basics of Scopus searching

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You want to find articles on adverse effects of Motrin.

Please select the correct search query you will use to search Scopus.

adverse effect AND motrin adverse effect AND motrin OR ibuprofen "adverse effect" OR "side effect" AND motrin OR ibuprofen

The basics of Scopus searching

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Use the Date Range option to limit your search by date.
Use the Document Type drop-down menu to specify a type of document. Selecting Article or Review is recommended.
Select one or more Subject Areas to specify a certain subject area for your search. If you move your cursor over the subject area name, a list of subjects included into that area will be displayed.
Click Search.

The basics of Scopus searching

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Refine your search using these two options:

Search within results box
Refine Results section on the left side of the screen. It will allow to limit your results by date, subject area, language, etc.

Viewing Your Results: Scopus Useful Tools

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You can view full text clicking Find it @ MCPHS icon underneath each citation. If the full text is not available, please request an article by interlibrary loan service (ILL) using the Request Form link provided.
After selecting a certain number of results, you can Download and save them.
You can also select citations and Export your results to RefWorks

Selecting result(s) and clicking View Cited by allows you to see publications which have cited the articles you found.
Clicking the More link on the top of the results page, you will be able to View references used in any of the selected results.
Using the More link, you will also be able to Create bibliography. To do this, select any number of the results, click More on the top of the results page, then select Create bibliography. Specify the desired output style and click Create.

You can do Author Search and Affiliation Search using buttons on the top of the search page.
Clicking Scopus Analytics button you will be able to view journal trends, including number of artciles published and average times articles cited.

Take a Quiz

1 of 5Would you like to test yourself? Take this short quiz (just 5 easy questions!) to see how much you know about Scopus and how well you can search it.

Scopus is:

A Northern American database with international scope A European database with international scope

Take a Quiz

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You can use Scopus to find peer-reviewed articles on:

Literary criticism Drug pharmacology Issues in teaching and higher education All of the above

Take a Quiz

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You can search Scopus using:

Subject headings Keywords All of the above

Take a Quiz

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How can you improve a search in Scopus and get more relevant articles from this database?

Use double quotation marks Use synonyms Combine synonyms with OR All of the above

Take a Quiz

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You want to find studies that demonstrate the relationship between obesity and metabolic syndrome.

What is the best way to search for this topic in Scopus? Please select one of the search queries provided below.

Obesity AND Metabolic syndrome Obesity OR Overweight AND Metabolic syndrome Obesity OR Overweight AND "Metabolic syndrome" OR "Insulin resistance syndrome" or "Reaven's syndrome" Obesity OR "Metabolic syndrome" AND Overweight

Certificate

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