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Science Citation Index Expanded

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Science Citation Index Expanded
ProducerClarivate (United States, United Kingdom)
History1964; 62 years ago
Access
ProvidersInstitute for Scientific Information
CostSubscription
Coverage
DisciplinesScience, medicine, and technology
Record depthAbstract, article length, cited references, data content, descriptive article titles, named author with author addresses
Format coverageBooks, conference proceedings, journals
Temporal coverage1900-present
Geospatial coverageWorldwide
No. of records67 million
Update frequencyDaily
Print edition
ISSN0036-827X
Links
WebsiteScience Citation Index Expanded

The Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) is a citation index owned by Clarivate and previously by Thomson Reuters.[1][2][3][4] It was created by Eugene Garfield at the Institute for Scientific Information,[5] launched in 1964 as Science Citation Index (SCI). It was later distributed via CD/DVD[6] and became available online in 1997, when it acquired the current name.

The indexing database covers more than 9,200 notable and significant journals, across 178 disciplines, from 1900 to the present.[citation needed] These are alternatively described as the world's leading journals of science and technology, because of a rigorous selection process.[7][8][9]

The index is available online within Web of Science,[10][11] as part of its Core Collection (there are also CD and printed editions, covering a smaller number of journals).[12] The database allows researchers to search through over 53 million records from thousands of academic journals that were published by publishers from around the world.

Specialty citation indexes

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Clarivate previously marketed several subsets of this database, termed "Specialty Citation Indexes",[13] such as the Neuroscience Citation Index[14] and the Chemistry Citation Index,[15] however these databases are no longer actively maintained.[as of?]

The Chemistry Citation Index was first introduced by Eugene Garfield, a chemist by training. His original "search examples were based on [his] experience as a chemist".[16] In 1992, an electronic and print form of the index was derived from a core of 330 chemistry journals, within which all areas were covered. Additional information was provided from articles selected from 4,000 other journals. All chemistry subdisciplines were covered: organic, inorganic, analytical, physical chemistry, polymer, computational, organometallic, materials chemistry, and electrochemistry.[16] By 2002, the core journal coverage increased to 500 and related article coverage increased to 8,000 other journals.[17] One 1980 study reported the overall citation indexing benefits for chemistry, examining the use of citations as a tool for the study of the sociology of chemistry and illustrating the use of citation data to "observe" chemistry subfields over time.[18]

Journal selection and evaluation criteria

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To maintain the quality of the database, Clarivate employs a rigorous selection process governed by 24 quality criteria and four impact criteria. Journals considered for inclusion in the SCIE must first undergo an editorial triaging process that assesses basic publishing standards, such as scholarly peer review, ethical publishing practices, and technical requirements (like English-language bibliographic information). Once these quality benchmarks are met, the journals are evaluated for their citation impact and community influence. This process ensures that the index only contains "notable and significant" journals, distinguishing the SCIE from more inclusive databases like the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). Journals that fail to maintain these standards—such as those exhibiting predatory publishing behaviors or excessive self-citation—are subject to "de-listing" during annual re-evaluations, a process that can significantly affect a journal's professional standing and its Journal Impact Factor (JIF).[19]

Bibliometric impact and criticisms

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The inclusion of a journal in the Science Citation Index Expanded is often viewed as a "seal of quality," significantly influencing the global prestige and financial viability of academic publications. Because the SCIE provides the underlying data for the Journal Impact Factor (JIF), it plays a central role in university rankings, faculty tenure decisions, and national research assessments. However, this reliance has drawn criticism from the scientific community. Organizations such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) argue that SCIE-based metrics are frequently misused as a proxy for the quality of individual research articles rather than the journal as a whole. Critics also point to a geographical bias within the index, suggesting that Western, English-language journals are disproportionately represented compared to those from the Global South. This has led to concerns regarding "citation cartels" and the marginalization of regional scientific research that may be of high quality but lower global citation volume.[20]

  1. ^ Garfield, Eugene (2011). "The evolution of the Science Citation Index" (PDF). International Microbiology. 10 (1): 65–69. doi:10.2436/20.1501.01.10. PMID 17407063.
  2. ^ Garfield, Eugene (30 November 1963). "Science Citation Index - 1961 Introduction". Science Citation Index. Vol. 1, no. 1. Institute for Scientific Information. pp. v–xvii. ISSN 0036-827X. LCCN 63023334. OCLC 1604320. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  3. ^ "History of Citation Indexing". Clarivate Analytics. Clarivate. November 2010. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Web of Science: Science Citation Index Expanded". Clarivate. Clarivate. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  5. ^ Garfield, Eugene (15 July 1955). "Citation Indexes for Science: A New Dimension in Documentation through Association of Ideas". Science. 122 (3159). American Association for the Advancement of Science: 108–111. Bibcode:1955Sci...122..108G. doi:10.1126/science.122.3159.108. PMID 14385826. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  6. ^ "Research Trends: SCIE/SCOPUS". KDI Central Library Libguides. LibGuides. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Science Citation Index Expanded". Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  8. ^ Ma, Jiupeng; Fu, Hui-Zhen; Ho, Yuh-Shan (23 December 2012). "The top-cited wetland articles in science citation index expanded: characteristics and hotspots". Environmental Earth Sciences. 70 (3). Springer-Verlag: 1039–1046. doi:10.1007/s12665-012-2193-y. ISSN 1866-6280. OCLC 5660316339. S2CID 18502338. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  9. ^ Ho, Yuh-Shan (1 September 2012). "The top-cited research works in the Science Citation Index Expanded". Scientometrics. 94 (3). Springer: 1297–1312. doi:10.1007/s11192-012-0837-z. ISSN 0138-9130. OCLC 5660256668. S2CID 1301373. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Available databases A to Z". Thomson Reuters. 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  11. ^ Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge. Thomson Reuters, 2013.
  12. ^ "Trusted publisher-independent citation database". Web of Science Group. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  13. ^ "Specialty Citation Indexes". Archived from the original on 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
  14. ^ "Journal Search – Science". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
  15. ^ "Journal Search – Science – Thomson Reuters". Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  16. ^ a b Garfield, Eugene (1992). "New Chemistry Citation Index On CD-ROM Comes With Abstracts, Related Records, and Key-Words-Plus" (PDF). Current Contents. 3: 5–9.
  17. ^ Chemistry Citation Index. Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 2003.
  18. ^ Dewitt, T. W.; Nicholson, R. S.; Wilson, M. K. (1980). "Science citation index and chemistry". Scientometrics. 2 (4): 265. doi:10.1007/BF02016348. S2CID 8382186.
  19. ^ "Editorial selection process | Clarivate". Retrieved 2026-02-17.
  20. ^ Leo, Egghe,; Ronald, Rousseau, (2020-02-01). "h-Type indices, partial sums and the majorization order". Quantitative Science Studies. 1 (1). doi:10.1162/q. Archived from the original on 2025-03-19.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)