Good afternoon, dear scientists! With you, the Academy of Articles. 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 to you 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 scientific journal – the first publication on our list, quite popular among Ukrainian scientists. The journal was accepted into Scopus in 2023, but has already made many mistakes, for which it will be excluded from the database in the near future.
List of violations for which a journal is likely to 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 published 185 articles in that year alone.
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, limiting the number of published articles, but the desire for profit is taking over 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 excluded from the RADAR system.
2) The second good reason why the journal will be excluded from the Scopus database is the publication of a large number of issues and special issues. Before entering the Scopus database, the journal was a quarterly (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, there were already 2 special issues and 9 regular ones, as of April.
3) Complete lack of peer review of articles. Our internal editors and reviewers have checked the articles published in the journal and noticed a large number of errors indicating a lack of peer review, which is the most important part in order to be regularly indexed in the Scopus database. As an example, an article published in the 1st issue of 2024, which has only 7 sources, 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 COPE rules, and Scopus database is very negative about such actions by journals. In our experience, Scopus database deindexed such articles for all journals that did this.
Result: This journal 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 review, there is a probability of almost 100% that all issues of 2024 will be de-identified. There is also such a probability for issues of 2023, but it is smaller. Judging by the dynamics that we see, the journal management understands this. Their strategy is to get a large profit as quickly as possible.
- REVISTA DE GESTIO SOCIAL E AMBIENTAL – the second edition, also quite popular among Ukrainian scientists. This is not surprising, because the publication promises acceptance of an article for printing in 10 days, and publication in 30 days for only 500$. The journal has been indexed in Scopus since 2014 and until 2022 strictly adhered to the principles and rules of publications for indexing in the scientometric database. But in 2023 everything changed. Perhaps the journal was bought, or they felt the opportunity to earn, and therefore they began to maximize income, ignoring all the rules. As you can see in the screenshot below (the dynamics of the publication of the publication), in 2023 the journal published 355 articles, which is 6 times more than in 2022.
List of violations for which a journal is likely to 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, each with 100 articles. This is a huge number, so it is not surprising that the Radar system automatically stopped indexing this edition.
2) There is no review or verification of articles. Below is a screenshot where the keywords of the article include the names and surnames of the authors. Is this possible in journals where articles are carefully checked?
Result: According to our observations, the journal has already fallen under the radar system and new content will not be indexed. 100% probability that content from 2024 will be removed from the Scopus database. Content from 2023 may also be removed, probability 80%. The departure from the database of this publication and the deindexation of articles according to our forecasts will occur within 1-3 months. This is inevitable.
- Environment and Social Psychology – the journal was accepted into Scopus in 2023. Before acceptance, the journal was published stably 2 times a year – for 7 years in a row, and when it was accepted into Scopus, the journal published 1 additional issue in 2023. And in 2024, the journal management understood what profits could be made, and in just 4 months the publication managed to publish 6 issues.
The journal often publishes newsletters with the possibility of rapid publication, which is not cheap - 1500$ for one article. In April 2024, the journal managed to publish more than 200 articles, most of which are 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 a journal is likely to be excluded from the database:
1) The number of issues and the number of articles published per year is increasing very rapidly.
2) Publication of articles that do not fit 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: So far, the journal is actively indexed in the Scopus database, but this will stop in the near future, as it is at high risk of being hit by the Radar system. According to our forecasts, the journal will be hit by 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 deindexing 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 strongly urge you to be careful when choosing a publication or an intermediary company that offers you quick publication in an indexed edition. We have already seen dozens of cases when previously indexed articles were removed from databases or those that were published were never indexed. Unfortunately, this has bad consequences for scientists, namely - delays in receiving a prize, title, degree, new contract, etc.
As you can see from our analysis, the Academy of Articles carefully selects the publications it cooperates with so as not to endanger its clients. We aim to popularize this matter so that more and more Ukrainian scientists will be more careful about the places where they publish their articles and the choice of an intermediary company. Do not be fooled by quick publication times for little money, because this will always backfire.
Follow our column to stay up to date with all the news and avoid any risks. Soon we will present you with a new list of publications that will soon lose indexing in Scopus. See you soon!
