Inflated citations and metrics of journals discontinued from Scopus for publication concerns: the GhoS(t)copus Project

Background Scopus is considered a leading bibliometric database. It contains the largest number of abstracts and articles cited in peer reviewed publications. The journals included in Scopus are periodically re-evaluated to ensure they meet indexing criteria. Afterwards, some journals might be discontinued for publication concerns. Despite their discontinuation, previously published articles remain indexed and continue to be cited. The metrics and characteristics of journals discontinued for publication concerns have yet to be studied. This study aimed (1) to evaluate the main features and citation metrics of journals discontinued from Scopus for publication concerns, before and after discontinuation, and (2) to determine the extent of predatory journals among the discontinued journals.Materials and Methods Eight authors surveyed a list of discontinued journals from Scopus (version July 2019). Data regarding metrics, citations and indexing were extracted from Scopus or other scientific databases, for the journals discontinued for publication concerns.Results A total of 317 journals were evaluated. The mean number of citations per year after discontinuation was significantly higher than before (median of difference 64 citations, p<0.0001), and so was the number of citations per document (median of difference 0.4 citations, p<0.0001). The total number of citations after discontinuation was 607,261, with a median of 713 citations (IQR 254-2056, range 0-19468) per journal. The open access publishing model was declared for 93% (294/317) of the journals, but only nine of these are currently indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Twenty-two percent (72/317) of the journals were included in the Cabell blacklist.Conclusions The citation count of journals discontinued for publication concerns, increases despite discontinuation. Countermeasures should be taken to ensure the validity and reliability of Scopus metrics both at journal- and author-level for the purpose of scientific assessment of publishing.View Full Text