New Scopus "Author Identifier" Wows U...

AMSTERDAM, June 12 /PRNewswire/ --

    - Author Search Efficiency Dramatically Increased With Powerful New
Algorithms



    Scopus(R), the world's largest abstract and citation database of research
information and quality Web sources, today announces that its new Author
Identifier has received an enthusiastic reception from customers. Released on
May 13th, the Scopus Author Identifier automatically distinguishes between
authors with the same name and matches variations of author names. Using
advanced algorithms Scopus is the first to "disambiguate" author names over
such a comprehensive body of data.



    "In this first release we have achieved an extraordinary level of
precision with over 99% certainty that records are matched to the correct
author. We have already grouped over 95% of our records to authors which is
quite an achievement over a base of 20 million author profiles - we are now
focussed on fine tuning the recall. Now the system is live, the more data we
add the better the recall will be." says Jaco Zijlstra, Scopus Director,
"Reactions from our users and customers have been extremely positive so 
far."



    Despite recent improvements, most abstracting databases still burden the
searcher with identifying and selecting name variations. Although some
databases cluster works by the specific format of author name, in general
they don't provide redirects to name variants (1).



    Instead of wasting time working through long lists of author names to
check each one, with Scopus Author Identifier researchers can work with the
confidence that they are getting the most comprehensive and accurate
information as quickly as possible in a simple overview.



    "This is a truly impressive achievement. We have been waiting for
something like this for a long time. It is great to see that Scopus is the
first to do this on such a large scale. It is so easy to use and solves a
problem that many novices didn't even know they had and experienced users
have long expressed a frustration with. It also builds on an existing
strength of Scopus; supporting the collaboration between authors." Amy Knapp,
Assistant University Librarian for Public Services and Departmental
Libraries, University of Pittsburgh, USA.



How it works

    The Scopus Author Identifier not only analyses all the variants of the
author' name but utilises additional data elements associated with the
article such as affiliation, publication history, source title, subject area
and co-authors. The highly sophisticated algorithms behind the Author
Identifier are able to match author names with 99% accuracy and assign a
unique identifier number to all authors who have published articles covered
by Scopus. This has been achieved for 95% of records. Records with
insufficient data to match with 99% confidence are not grouped until new data
confirming the match is added to Scopus. As Scopus is continually updated
records are matched constantly. Additionally, a feedback link on the Author
Details page allows authors to check their details and tell Scopus if
information needs to be adjusted.



    "Immediacy and accuracy of the data makes the difference between a
reliable database and 'one more product'...these changes you are making to
Scopus makes it a more powerful tool." Daniel C. Baumgart, MD, PhD, Virchow
Hospital, Germany.



Author Details page

    Scopus has assigned an Author Details page to each author giving users an
overview of data associated with that author. Not only are an individual
authors' papers grouped together for convenient viewing but the system also
allows the researcher to make connections between people by viewing their
co-authors and their co-authors' articles. The user can also generate an
instant overview of an author's citations from the Author Page using the
Scopus Citation Tracker. The Author Identifier also supports the exclusion of
self citations at the simple click of a button on the Citation Tracker.



    The new Scopus Author Identifier feature will be profiled from June 11th
at the forthcoming Special Libraries Association Meeting in Baltimore, USA.



About Scopus

    Covering the world's research literature, Scopus is the largest and
easiest to use navigation tool ever built. Scopus is designed and developed
with over 300 users and librarians internationally. Its unique database
contains abstracts and references from over 15,000 titles from 4,000
different publishers, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage. In addition,
Scopus not only offers users citation information about the articles covered,
but also integrates web & patent searches directly from its clean and simple
interface. Direct links to full-text articles, library resources and other
applications like reference management software, make Scopus quicker, easier
and more comprehensive to use than any other literature research tool.



For more information about Scopus please visit www.info.scopus.com.

About Elsevier

    Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and
medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the
global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70
offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per
year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such
as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult 
(http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/),
bibliographic databases, and online reference works.



    Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of
Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading
publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical,
legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides
high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing
emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker
symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and
ENL (New York Stock Exchange).



    1) Bennet, Denise Beaubein, Priscilla Williams. "Name Authority
Challenges for Indexing and Abstracting Databases." Evidenced Based
Library and Information Practice 2006.