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What is SciVal?

SciVal is a web-based tool that allows in-depth analysis of the Scopus publication and citation database. 

You can locate SciVal by following this link or through the ECU database list. Registration of your own personal account is required.

SciVal offers quick, easy access to the research performance of 7,500 research institutions and 220 nationals worldwide. Researchers can use SciVal to track and visualize an individual's research performance for assessment & funding purposes, benchmark an individual relative to peers, compare groups of individuals, track collaboration patterns & find new potential collaborators, analyze research trends and produce reports on analyses.


The default SciVal displays author and institutional metrics using institutional information as listed in the publication.

There are currently 5 modules in SciVal:

Image of SciVal landing page: Showing modules Overview Benchmarking Collaboration Trends Reporting

  • the Overview module provides high-level overview of the research performance of ECU, other institutions, countries and group of researchers.
     
  • the Benchmarking module enables the comparison and benchmarking of ECU to other institutions, researchers and groups of researchers using a variety of metrics.
     
  • the Collaboration module exposes the collaboration network of both ECU individuals, groups, schools as well as those of other institutions, and highlights gaps or potential collaborators.
     
  • the Trends module uses citation counts and database views to visualise current research trends, possibly to determine a new research strategy or find collaboration opportunities.
     
  • the Reporting module allows users to create customised reports on analyses, and to save those searches

 

1. SciVal is available throught the A-Z list of Library Databases Click on the "S" and scroll down to SciVal or use the search box

2. First, authenticate with your ECU Login/password

3. Next, login with your SciVal Login/password

  • SciVal requires all users to register to use the database
  • It's very useful if you also register with Scopus, as SciVal extracts its information from Scopus. There are links within both databases which allow you to move from one database to the other.

SciVal Online Tutorials

SciVal is a web-based tool that allows in-depth analysis of the Scopus publication and citation database. 

SciVal offers quick, easy access to the research performance of 7,500 research institutions and 220 nationals worldwide. Researchers can use SciVal to track and visualize an individual's research performance for assessment and funding purposes, benchmark an individual relative to peers, compare groups of individuals, track collaboration patterns and find new potential collaborators, analyze research trends and produce reports on analyses.


The default SciVal displays author and institutional metrics using institutional information as listed in the publications within the Scopus database.

There are currently 5 modules in SciVal:

Image of SciVal landing page: Showing modules Overview Benchmarking Collaboration Trends Reporting

  • the Overview module provides high-level overview of the research performance of ECU, other institutions, countries and group of researchers.
     
  • the Benchmarking module enables the comparison and benchmarking of ECU to other institutions, researchers and groups of researchers using a variety of metrics.
     
  • the Collaboration module exposes the collaboration network of both ECU individuals, groups, schools as well as those of other institutions, and highlights gaps or potential collaborators.
     
  • the Trends module uses citation counts and database views to visualise current research trends, possibly to determine a new research strategy or find collaboration opportunities.
     
  • the Reporting module allows users to create customised reports on analyses, and to save those searches

 

The SciVal default Institutions and Groups view

Image shouws SciVal default Institutions and Groups view

The SciVal default view shows data from all institutions and groups whose works have been published in Scopus.

1. Select institution - click on the Institution and Groups heading on the left

  • The default is to show Edith Cowan University metrics
  • Select + to add Institutions and Groups
  • you can add other institutions of groups to view their research metrics
  • you can add a pre-populated group (type in the name)
  • you can create a group of institutions

2. Select dates - several pre-set date ranges to search

3. Select classification code - generally opt for

  • select a specific FoR code
  • select all

4. Select a Module

5. Each Module will provide different options, such as:

  • Summary: Overall research output
  • Topics: Topics of Prominence for institution selected
  • Awarded Grants: If information has been noted in the publication
  • Collaboration: co-authors & their institutions/ potential co-authors/instituions
  • Published: number of publications, publications in Top Citation Percentiles, Field Weighted etc.,
  • Viewed: Citations viewed in Scopus
  • Cited: Citation counts, citations per publication, Field weighted citation impact
  • Economic Impact: Patent related information

 

Metrics:

  • each category &/or module / chart may offer a variety of metrics - experiment!

  • view metrics in Table or Chart View

  • searches can be Added to Reporting (i.e. save the search) - separate saves for Table and chart view

  • can be downloaded/exported as PDF, CSV, XLS

The Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) is the ratio of citations received relative to the expected world average for the subject field, publication type and publication year. This metric is available in the SciVal database, you can view this in the overview module on the summary tab.

  • A Field-Weighted Citation Impact of 1.00:   
    indicates that the publication has been cited at world average for similar publications

     
  • A Field-Weighted Citation Impact of >1.00: 
    indicates that the publication has been cited more than the would be expected based on the world average for similar publications. For example, a score of 1.38 means that the outputs have been cited 38% more times than expected

     
  • A Field-Weighted Citation Impact of <1.00: 
    indicates that the publication has been cited less than the would be expected based on the world average for similar publications. For example, a score of 0.90 means that the outputs have been cited 10% less times than expected.

  The ECU institutional hierarchy in SciVal enables citations-based analyses at the level of ECU Schools, Strategic Research Institutes and Strategic Research Centres. It can be used to gather data, benchmark performance and/or generate reports for ECU organisational units based on ECU research staff affiliated with each entity. Additionally, the ‘home institution filter’ can be used to limit School, Strategic Research Institute or Strategic Research Centre analyses to ECU-affiliated publications.

Please note: School-based Research Centres are no longer maintained in the hierarchy. However, Research Services have developed a guide that provides instructions on how you can create your own Researcher Groups in SciVal. This will make it possible for you to continue to undertake performance analyses on School-based Research Centres, along with other researcher groupings you create.

 

When is the institutional hierarchy updated?

The institutional hierarchy is updated once per year as based on a ‘snapshot’ of ECU staff taken at that time. The latest update to the hierarchy was completed in July 2022.

 

Are Scopus Author ID profiles cleaned as part of the hierarchy update?

Although some limited profile ‘cleaning’ activities are undertaken by Research Services prior to the launch of each update to the hierarchy, it is the responsibility of each individual researcher to maintain their Scopus profile.

 

Who is included in the institutional hierarchy?

Using the ‘snapshot’ as a starting point, the staff to be included in the institutional hierarchy for a given year are determined based on the following criteria:

  • Affiliated with one of the eight ECU Schools or Kurongkurl Katijin, and,
  • Either an:
    • Academic Level A to E or School Executive Dean, or,
    • Professional staff member with at least one publication (i.e. journal article, conference paper, book or book chapter) accepted in the Research Activity System (RAS) in the previous ten years (i.e. 2012 to 2021 in 2022)
  • Have a Scopus Author ID (i.e. have at least one output indexed in Scopus at the time of the most recent update to the hierarchy)

Note:  Adjunct staff members are not included in the institutional hierarchy as they generally have a publication association with another institution.

 

Is the institutional hierarchy dynamically updated?

The institutional hierarchy is not dynamically updated. Each iteration of the institutional hierarchy represents a snapshot of ECU’s staff composition at a specific point in time. Changes to the staff membership within a given ECU organisational unit that occur after the current hierarchy update will not be reflected in the hierarchy until the next annual update occurs. Requests for any major changes to the membership of your School, Strategic Research Institute or Strategic Research Centre should be made to Research Services via your School Associate Dean, Research.

 

Where is the institutional hierarchy available?

The hierarchy can be viewed in the Overview or Benchmarking modules. Each School, Strategic Research Institute and Strategic Research Centre can be found under Researchers and Groups in the selection panel on the left-hand side of the screen.

 

Can staff appear in more than one organisational unit?

Yes, staff can belong to more than one organisational unit, and this is reflected in the hierarchy e.g. an individual researcher can be listed within a School as well as one or more of the Strategic Research Institutes or Strategic Research Centres.

 

Why am I not appearing in the institutional hierarchy?

There may be a number of reasons why you are not appearing in the current institutional hierarchy:

  • Are you an eligible researcher? (see eligibility criteria above)
  • Do you have a Scopus Author ID (i.e. do you have at least one research output indexed in the Scopus citation database? SciVal draws its publication data specifically from the Scopus database).
  • Are you a recent staff member? Remember that the institutional hierarchy is a staff list of ECU staff that is updated only once per year.

 

Why are my Scopus-indexed outputs not displaying in the institutional hierarchy?

There are a number of reasons why your output could be indexed in Scopus but are missing from your list of publications in the SciVal hierarchy:

  • SciVal draws on a Scopus dataset that is typically 1-2 weeks behind current Scopus data, which means that outputs that have been very recently added to Scopus may not yet be included in the current Scopus dataset in SciVal.
  • The output may have been assigned to a Scopus Author ID different from the one representing you in the hierarchy (e.g. this may occur if you have published under a different name). If there are issues with your profile, see: How do I correct my author profile?
  • Updates to your Scopus author profile have been completed in Scopus but have not yet flowed through to SciVal.
  • The Overview module uses a number of fixed year ranges and it is possible that a given output does not fall within the specified year range. If the Overview module does not provide the required year range then switch to the Benchmarking module which provides all years from 1996 to the present.

The annual SciVal rollover for the Overview, Collaboration and Trends modules last occurred in June 2022.

Please note that this will has the resulted in the shifting forward the year ranges for any Analyses in Reporting that were created in the Overview, Collaboration or Trends modules. If you would like to retain the metrics from the current range, please make a snapshot of the relevant analyses before the next rollover and save it to either SciVal or your local machine.

SciVal has a recorded webinar to assist in this process.

As your SciVal profile is based on your Scopus Author ID, you may wish to check that your Scopus Author ID is correct and includes only your publications or all of your Scopus indexed publications.

Some authors have similar names, or their names can appear differently in various publications. The Scopus Author Identifier distinguishes between these names by assigning each author in Scopus a unique number and grouping together all of the documents written by that author.
 

To view your Scopus Author ID > Click on Author Search and search for your name

  • If you have published under a variety of names, all variations of your name will be listed.
  • Click on your name

If some of your publications are not listed in your Scopus Author ID, it may be that you have not published in a journal indexed by Scopus. Check this list of journals to see if your publication is listed or click on Sources (located above the blue banner).

The Author details page will list some of you basic author metrics and all of your Scopus indexed publication (not shown in image above)
 

Request Author corrections:

Note that Scopus automatically generates an Author ID -  authors with similar names and fields may find that their publications have been combined. If you notice a problem with your profile, click on the link and use the online form. If your problem is not covered by the form, use the Contact Us link listed at the bottom of your Scopus Author ID page.
 

To transfer your Scopus Author ID publications to SciVal 
 

  • Make sure that you have registered and logged into SciVal before continuing (SciVal always requires a personal sign on)
     
  • In Scopus: Click on "Export profile to Scival"
     
  • In SciVal, make sure you are in the My SciVal Module > notice that the selected Scopus Author now appears in "Researchers and Groups" (left hand side panel) and type in your name

Research Profile now in Researchers & Groups in My SciVal

  • if you have a long history of publications, note that the maximum number of years that the Overview and Benchmarking modules provide differing date ranges for metrics.
     
  • To view the a selected author's SciVal metrics, click on the Overview Module and select the author from your Researchers and Groups list.

Showing a researcher in Researchers and Groups

 

1. You may wish to first check your SCOPUS ID as this ID is computer generated and it may include publications which are not yours etc. See the tab "Get from your Scopus Author ID to your SciVal profile" for more information.
 

2. Login into SciVal (you will need to set up a personal login)
 

Click on the MY SCIVAL module (top right)

 

1. If you do not see > Edith Cowan University below the blue line, type it in the search box as shown in the image above.
 

2. When you see > Edith Cowan University, click on the downward pointing arrow until you come to your name
 

Drag and drop your name into the Researchers and Groups panel on the left and your details will display
 

To view either your SciVal profile or someone else's Scival, click back into the OVERVIEW module

To compare SciVal profiles, click back into the BENCHMARKING module

 

To SAVE your profile > Click on EXPORT (button to the far right of the page).
There are Save 3 options:
a. The first 2: Export to CSV or Excel XLS (spreadsheet files) - will show the underlying citation figures behind the metrics
b. Print page or Save as PDF (saves/prints exactly as it appears on the screen)
1. Add to Reporting > this saves your search which can be run at a later date. Click on the REPORTING Module (up the top) to view all your saved searches.

An entity in SciVal is anything that can be created or analysed in terms of research performance on the platform, the selection panel on the left hand side of the screen in Scival can be thought of like a workspace where you can access, add and store an entities that you are using or have created. You have the ability to do a simple search for entities including Institutions, countries, and sources that are predefined by SciVal or researchers and  that have been added by ECU as part of the ECU institutional repository. SciVal allows a user to intuitively navigate through the process of locating entities and creating their own.


How to add entities to your selection panel

The process of adding entities is similar across all entity types, the steps outlined below use the researcher entity type as an example.

Simple search for entities predefined by SciVal, that are saved in your panel or defined by the ECU Institutional Hierarchy.

1. Select entity type

2. Click into the search box, you may begin typing in the name of the entity which will bring up suggestions. The selected entities will be displayed in the selection panel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To define a researcher that you can not locate through a simple search

1. Select "Define a new researcher" from the menu under the simple search bar

2. Enter the researcher name and affilation, of select "Add another feild" to search for ORCiD ID, Scopus ID and others.

3. Select search

4. SciVal will now step through the process of selecting the correct profile and validating the entry before it is saved to your selection panel

Researchers may also be added by dragging and dropping from the authors tab across modules, or by importing using the provided template that is available by selecting the "Import researchers" option on the menu.


Defining your own groups of entities within SciVal

The Overview, Benchmarking and Collaboration modules in SciVal enables the creation of groups of entities internal and external to ECU, including institutions, researchers and countries, there is also the ability to create publication sets. The ECU Institutional Hierarchy currently includes entities at School, Strategic Research Institute and Centre level, other research groups at ECU such as school level research groups and centers are not included. Both groups created by a user and those available through the hierarchy have access to the same metrics and reporting. Whilst it is possible to edit groups after they are created, it is recommended that if you are creating a group from entities not included in the ECU Institutional Hierarchy that you first add them to your selection panel using the steps outlined above.

 

Please follow the steps below to search for or create/define a new group

The following example uses the researcher entity type, however the process is similar for other entity types with SciVal offering a step by step walk through.

1. Ensure you are in the Overview, Collaboration or Benchmarking modules, in the left hand menu select the type of entity you require.

2. Click into the search bar at the top, within the search bar you may search within the ECU Institutional Hierarchy to locate entities that exist within the hierarchy.  

3. Clicking into the search bar or selecting the add new button at the bottom also to brings up a menu with options to define researchers and groups external to the hierarchy and to create groups.

4. Select Define a new Group of Researchers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once within the Define a group function you can create groups out of researchers and groups that are available to you. If you have not defined entities external to ECU then you might choose to do so before beginning, groups may also be edited using this function after their creation.

5. Select if you would like to display and search all researchers and groups available to you, those that you have defined or those provided by the ECU hierarchy. These are displayed in the box below.

6. Select if you would like to search for both types of entities or focus on researchers or groups.

7. Search or scroll through the list, select one or more researchers or groups and drag them to the panel on the right.

8. You can rename your group using the text box, or search and add groups by selecting add group

Once you have completed creating your group select Save and Finish. This will save the group in the selection panel and make it available for use across modules.

Expand all

How to Save a Search using SciVal Reporting Module?