No. 15 of 34 ·Academic Research Databases

Scopus

by Elsevier ·Web · API

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Freedom report

Two barsScore 6.3

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely1 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Scopus is ranked #15 of 34 in academic research databases on Freedom251. It runs on API, Web. There is a free plan.

Scopus plans and pricing

All plans

Scopus Preview Free Free preview access; full Scopus access is sold by organization subscription elsevier.com · 8 Oct 2026

Scopus organization subscription Not published Available for organization subscription access only; contact Elsevier for subscription options elsevier.com · 8 Oct 2026

Compared on academic research databases

Free plan: No

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The record

Product: Scopus is an abstract and citation database for finding relevant research, identifying experts, and gaining insights with metrics and analytical tools.
Content coverage: Scopus includes academic journals, preprints, books, and conference proceedings, with more than 100 million records listed on its product page.
Research search: Scopus search tools help users discover sources, identify research trends, and find potential collaborators.
Scopus with AI: Scopus with AI provides referenced topic summaries, expanded summaries, conversational follow-up, foundational documents, concept maps, emerging themes, and Deep Research reports.
Analytics: Scopus lets users analyze, compare, and export research output at individual or institutional levels.
Author profiles: Scopus Author Profiles show research output, impact, and collaborators, and are automatically populated with the latest insights.
Metrics: Scopus offers journal, article, author, and institutional metrics, including CiteScore, SNIP, SJR, PlumX, and h-index.
Content review: Scopus content is curated by an independent international Content Selection and Advisory Board.
API access: Scopus APIs provide metadata, abstracts, and citation data to Scopus-subscribing academic institutions, including for research portals and institutional systems such as Pure and Digital Commons.
API policy: Elsevier ties API use to specific use cases and policies, and says other uses may require approval.
AI privacy: Elsevier says Scopus with AI adheres to GDPR and that queries passed to ChatGPT hosted on Microsoft Azure will not be stored or used to train or improve ChatGPT.
AI content scope: Scopus with AI summaries use Scopus metadata, abstracts, and author profiles, and summary coverage starts at 2003.
Audience: Elsevier describes Scopus as serving researchers, educators, students, librarians, and administrators in higher education.
Support: The product page links to a Scopus Support Center and the Author Profile Wizard for author-profile corrections.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Academic Research Databases in 2026#15 of 34
Best AI Search Engines in 2026#18 of 28

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Sources

elsevier.com/products/scopus· checked 8 Oct 2026
elsevier.com/products/scopus/scopus-ai· checked 8 Oct 2026
elsevier.com/products/scopus/data· checked 8 Oct 2026
dev.elsevier.com/sc_use_cases.html· checked 8 Oct 2026
elsevier.com/products/scopus/higher-education· checked 8 Oct 2026
elsevier.com/products/scopus/higher-education/facult· checked 8 Oct 2026