Skip to Main Content

Choosing a Journal

Strategies and tools for investigating and evaluating your options

CiteScore Information

Category: Journal Level


Definition: A score based on the number of citations to documents (articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers) by a journal over four years, divided by the number of the same document types indexed in Scopus and published in those same four years. The score is only calculated once a year. 


Use Case: The CiteScore is useful in comparing the relative influence of journals within a discipline, as measured by citations.


Location:  Scopus


Field Normalized?:  No


Caveats: 

  • Only available for journals indexed in Scopus.
  • Only calculated one time a year.

Sample Statement: Of the 264 documents authored by Dr. Gawande that are indexed in Scopus, 8 of them were published in The Lancet, which has a CiteScore of 148.1 (2023) and is the highest ranked of the 636 journals in the category of General Medicine (Scopus).

What that means:  Dr. Gawande's documents published in The Lancet in the most recent three years should receive on average 148.1 citations in the most recent year.

Additional Information and Resources Regarding CiteScore