Journals that will soon lose indexing in Scopus
Good day, dear scientists! The Academy of Articles is with you. We are launching a new section — publications that will soon lose indexing in Scopus. We will regularly analyze publications that are at risk and publish informative articles with our observations to protect you from losing money, time and nerves.
This time we present you with a list of 3 publications that are currently indexed in Scopus, but according to our observations, violate all the rules and requirements of the Scopus database for scientific publications and will soon be excluded from the database.
Magazines:
Multidisciplinary science journal — the first publication on our list, quite popular among Ukrainian scientists. The journal was accepted in 2023 in Scopus, but has already managed to make many mistakes, for which it will be excluded from the database in the near future.
List of violations for which the journal will likely be excluded from the database:
1) A sharp increase in the number of published articles and issues. As we can see in the screenshot, from 2019 to 2022, the journal published approximately 15-25 articles per year. In 2023, the journal was accepted into Scopus and immediately published 185 articles that year.
In 2024, the journal has already published 193 articles, and this is only April, the fourth month of the year. In the first issues of 2024, the journal published no more than 20 articles in one issue, restraining the number of published articles, but the desire for profit prevails and now the journal publishes more than 30 articles in each issue. According to our forecasts, by the end of the year, the journal will publish more than 400 articles, a significant part of which will be special issues, for which it will be automatically switched off by the RADAR system.
2) The second compelling reason why the journal will be excluded from the Scopus database is the publication of a large number of issues and special issues. Before being included in the Scopus database, the journal was a quarterly journal (published 4 times a year - this frequency is the most optimal for the Scopus database). In 2023, the journal published 4 issues per year, but released 6 special issues, and in 2024 already 2 special issues and 9 regular ones, as of April.
3) Complete lack of peer review of articles. Our internal editors and reviewers checked the articles published in the journal and noticed a large number of errors indicating a lack of peer review, which is a critical part of being regularly indexed in the Scopus database. As an example, an article published in issue 1 of 2024, which has only 7 sources - this is completely unacceptable for the Scopus database.
4) The journal publishes 2-3 articles by the same author in one issue. This is strictly prohibited by the COPE rules and the Scopus database has a very negative attitude towards such actions on the part of journals. From our experience, for all journals that did this, the Scopus database de-indexed such articles.
Result: This journal 100% will be excluded from the Scopus database by the end of 2024 for violating the rules described above. Also, according to our forecasts, if Scopus specialists pay attention to the quality of articles during the check, the probability is almost 100% that all issues of 2024 will be de-identified. There is also such a probability for issues of 2023, but it is less. Judging by the dynamics that we see, the journal's management understands this. Their strategy is to make a large profit as quickly as possible.
2. REVISTA DE GESTIO SOCIAL E AMBIENTAL — the second edition, also quite popular among Ukrainian scientists. This is not surprising, because the publication promises to accept an article for publication in 10 days, and publish it in 30 days for only 500$. The journal has been indexed in Scopus since 2014 and until 2022 strictly followed the principles and rules of publication for indexing in the scientometric database. But in 2023, everything changed. Perhaps the journal was bought, or they felt an opportunity to make money, and therefore began to maximize income, ignoring all the rules. As you can see in the screenshot below (publication dynamics of the publication), in 2023 the journal published 355 articles, which is 6 times more than in 2022.
List of violations for which the journal will likely be excluded from the database:
1) An incredibly large increase in the number of published articles - in 2024, the journal has already published 6 issues with 100 articles each. This is a huge number, so it is not surprising that the Radar system automatically stopped indexing this publication.
2) There is no peer review or verification of articles. Below we attach a screenshot where the authors' names and surnames are indicated in the article's keywords. Is this possible in journals where articles are carefully checked?
Result: According to our observations, the journal has already been under the radar system and new content will not be indexed. The probability that the 2024 content will be removed from the Scopus database is 100%. Content for 2023 may also be removed, the probability is 80%. The removal from the database of this publication and the de-indexing of articles, according to our forecasts, will occur within 1-3 months. This is inevitable.
3. Environment and Social Psychology – the journal was accepted into Scopus in 2023. Before acceptance, the journal was published stably twice a year – for 7 years in a row, and when it was accepted into Scopus, the journal published an additional 1 issue in 2023. And in 2024, the journal's management realized what profits could be obtained, and in just 4 months of publication, it managed to publish 6 issues.
The journal often sends out newsletters with the option of quick publication, which is not cheap - 1500$ per article. In April 2024, the journal managed to publish more than 200 articles, most of which were indexed in Scopus, which is already 4 times more than last year and 10 times more than in previous years.
List of violations for which the journal will likely be excluded from the database:
1) The number of issues and the number of published articles per year is increasing very rapidly.
2) Publishing articles that do not correspond to the focus of the journal. The journal focuses on social psychology, but now publishes articles on economics, medicine, chemistry, linguistics, etc.
3) Lack of peer review.
Result: The journal is currently being actively indexed in the Scopus database, but this will stop in the near future, as it is at high risk of being included under the Radar system. According to our forecasts, the journal will be included under the Radar system within 1-4 months and will be excluded from the Scopus database by the end of 2024. Perhaps, this will happen much earlier. There is also a high probability of de-indexing all content for 2024.
Conclusions
Our team has shown you 3 publications that, according to our forecasts, will soon be excluded from the Scopus database. These publications contain a large number of scientific articles by Ukrainian scientists. We understand that the offer of quick publication is always attractive to our colleagues, but dear scientists, we very persistently ask you to be more careful when choosing a publication or an intermediary company that offers you quick publication in an indexed publication. We have already seen dozens of cases when pre-indexed articles were removed from the databases or those that were published were never indexed. Unfortunately, this entails bad consequences for scientists, namely, delays in receiving an award, title, degree, new contract, etc.
As you can see from our analysis, the Academy of Articles carefully selects the publications it cooperates with in order not to endanger its clients. We aim to popularize this business so that more and more Ukrainian scientists are more careful about the places where they publish their articles and the choice of an intermediary company. Do not be fooled by quick publication dates for little money, because it will always backfire.
Follow our column to stay up to date with all the news and stay safe. Soon we will present you with a new list of publications that will soon lose their indexing in Scopus. Until next time!
