Revised October 7, 2025
1. What is Scopus, and why is the Libraries maintaining its subscription while discontinuing Web of Science?
Scopus is an abstract and citation database that covers peer-reviewed literature across disciplines, including science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities. It provides robust tools for tracking citations, analyzing research impact, and identifying emerging trends. WVU Libraries is maintaining its Scopus subscription because it offers broad coverage, and provides strong support for research and teaching needs. To streamline resources that fit within our current budget, the Libraries will discontinue Web of Science while continuing Scopus.
2. When will access to Web of Science end?
Access to Web of Science will end on December 31, 2025.
3. Why is the Libraries discontinuing Web of Science?
The Libraries made this decision after a comprehensive evaluation of both Web of Science and Scopus, considering factors such as content overlap, unique coverage, usage, and cost. Maintaining subscriptions to both databases was no longer sustainable. Scopus offers comparable—and in many disciplines, broader—coverage, and will become the Libraries’ exclusive citation database on January 1, 2026.
This evaluation included a campuswide survey (distributed via the Provost’s listserv to faculty and instructors of record on May 12 and June 3, 2025) and follow-up focus groups with respondents who volunteered to participate.
4. Will I lose access to journal content during this transition?
No. Access to journal content and other subscription resources will not be affected as these are licensed separately from citation databases. What will change is the citation indexing: content indexed in Web of Science may differ from what is indexed in Scopus, and vice versa. Additionally, access to Journal Citation Reports (JCR)—a product of Web of Science’s owner, Clarivate—will end when Web of Science access concludes.
5. Will the Libraries provide training on how to use Scopus effectively?
Yes. The Libraries has created a Scopus guide and will provide workshops and other on-demand reference support to help the University community transition to Scopus. Training opportunities will be announced as they become available.
6. What will happen to my Web of Science user profile, including my ResearcherID/Publons profile?
Individual user profiles in Web of Science will not transfer to Scopus. If you have saved searches, alerts, or other personalized settings, export or record them before December 31, 2025.
We encourage researchers to set up personal user accounts in Scopus to save searches, create alerts, and track authors and publications of interest.
Scopus profiles focus on tracking publications and citation impact rather than serving as customizable scholarly profiles like ResearcherID/Publons in Web of Science. Once you claim your Scopus profile, you can link it to your ORCID iD for automatic updates to your ORCID record.
7. Questions?
For questions about the Libraries’ cancellation of Web of Science, contact the Office of the Dean of Libraries. For questions about using Scopus see the Libraries options for on-demand reference support .