Please Explain the difference between the Social Science Citation Index and Science Citation Index Expanded?
There are three terms that are worth understanding: SCI, SCIE, and SSCI. All three are databases of academic journals maintained in the Web of Science Master Journal List operated by Clarivate Analytics.
SCI: Science Citation Index – SCI is a multidisciplinary index that covers 8,500+ “notable and significant” journals across 150+ disciplines, from 1900 to the present. These journals are often considered as the world’s leading journals in science and technology, because of their level of influence and broad circulation.
SCIE: Science Citation Index Expanded – SCIE includes a slightly broader scope of journals than SCI, with inclusion of emerging and regional journals. Some tend to view inclusion in the SCI database as more prestigious than those in SCIE only, but this is subject to debate.
SSCI: Social Sciences Citation Index – SSCI is a multidisciplinary index that covers 3400+ journals across 58 social science disciplines, from 1900 to present. Similar to SCI, these journals are generally considered the most “prestigious and/or influential” in their respective fields.
Hope this helps! Best wishes for a smooth and successful publication journey.
Best regards,
Hamed Bazaz | Founder, Managing Director | www.journaledit.com
There are three terms that are worth understanding: SCI, SCIE, and SSCI. All three are databases of academic journals maintained in the Web of Science Master Journal List operated by Clarivate Analytics.
SCI: Science Citation Index – SCI is a multidisciplinary index that covers 8,500+ “notable and significant” journals across 150+ disciplines, from 1900 to the present. These journals are often considered as the world’s leading journals in science and technology, because of their level of influence and broad circulation.
SCIE: Science Citation Index Expanded – SCIE includes a slightly broader scope of journals than SCI, with inclusion of emerging and regional journals. Some tend to view inclusion in the SCI database as more prestigious than those in SCIE only, but this is subject to debate.
SSCI: Social Sciences Citation Index – SSCI is a multidisciplinary index that covers 3400+ journals across 58 social science disciplines, from 1900 to present. Similar to SCI, these journals are generally considered the most “prestigious and/or influential” in their respective fields.
Hope this helps! Best wishes for a smooth and successful publication journey.
Best regards,
Hamed Bazaz | Founder, Managing Director | www.journaledit.com
Hamed Bazaz has provided a very useful response. The only thing I would add is that in my experience with social science topics, the SCIE produces about 20% more hits than the core collection of the SSCI.
I personally prefer the more carefully selected set of sources in the core collection, rather than the additional "gray" literature that shows up in the Expanded version.
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