A matter of time: Publication dates in Scopus

Similar to the Web of Science, Scopus is also a widely used abstract and citation database. Researchers typically employ the Year of Publication or Date of Publication field in Scopus to retrieve, filter and analyse indexed records. However, the inconsistent retrieval results obtained by these two fields in Scopus, which was occasionally observed in this study, may cause confusion among users. In this brief research article, we seek to elucidate this phenomenon by utilising indexed records in Scopus from the past 50 years. Empirical evidence indicates that inconsistent retrieval results retrieved by these two search fields are attributable to discrepancies in the publication year information provided in the Year of Publication and Date of Publication fields in Scopus. Specifically, missing year information in the Date of Publication field, incorrect year information in the Date of Publication field or in the Year of Publication field, and inconsistent use of different versions of publication dates in these two fields are four representative causes for the observed inconsistencies in retrieval results in Scopus. This article concludes by outlining the potential consequences of these issues and suggesting ways to effectively address them.