| Description: |
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. |