Scopus: Refining Results

In previous posts, I've described the product, talked about basic searching and the results screen. Now, it's time to look at the totally unique way Scopus has devised to refine the results of a search.

Notice the box above the results - it says 'Refine Results'. Look at this box to find out:

• Which journals publish most frequently on this topic
• Which authors are working on this topic
• Distribution of articles per year

You can use these lists to identify potential journals for article submission. If you're working on a systematic review, this would be a great first pass at building a list of journals to hand-search. And the same holds true for the author list - if you're working on a project, this is a good test to see if you are familiar with the key people in the field. You can also identify a potential co-author to collaborate with on future research. That's pretty cool!

Notice that you have the choice to 'limit to' or 'exclude'. Use the check boxes to select one or more journals, authors, or dates and then limit to only those selected or exclude those selected.

FYI
Scopus is available from the Medical Library's Major Resources list.