STEM Abstracting and Indexing (A&I) Tool Overlap Analysis in 2020: An Open Science Informed Approach Amid Pandemic Budgets

Abstract

Objectives: Compare journal coverage of abstract and indexing tools commonly used within academic science and engineering research. Methods: Title lists of Compendex, Inspec, Reaxys, SciFinder, and Web of Science were provided by their respective publishers. These lists were imported into Excel and the overlap of the ISSN/EISSNs and journal titles was determined using the VLOOKUP command, which determines if the value in one cell can be found in a column of other cells. Results: There is substantial overlap between the Web of Science’s Science Citation Index Expanded and the Emerging Sources Citation Index, the largest database with 17,014 titles, and Compendex (63.6%), Inspec (71.0%), Reaxys (67.0%), and SciFinder (75.8%). SciFinder also overlaps heavily with Reaxys (75.9%). Web of Science and Compendex combined contain 77.6% of the titles within Inspec. Conclusion: Flat or decreasing library budgets combined with increasing journal prices result in an unsustainable system that will require a calculated allocation of resources at many institutions. The overlap of commonly indexed journals among abstracting and indexing tools could serve as one way to determine how these resources should be allocated.

E-Book Perceptions and Use: A Longitudinal Follow-Up Study

“…46 Many libraries began purchasing electronic duplicates of items held in print, placing further stress on already strained collections budgets. 47 While measures like these were seen as emergency responses, library directors surveyed on how COVID-19 impacted their decision-making predicted that the pandemic will push even more of their budgets toward online resources, including e-books, while they expect a related decrease in spending on print resources. 48 For users, the restrictions on access to physical collections meant that researchers of all affiliate statuses and from all academic disciplines found themselves relying on online resources almost exclusively for at least several months.…”