Scopus to partner with Mendeley Web Importer for full-text document download
As a result of user feedback regarding the limitations of the current Scopus document download solution and the need to have easier and broader access to full-text documents, Scopus will be testing integration with the Mendeley Web Importer (MWI) as a means to achieve broader and seamless full-text access.
Overview:
Scopus users can currently download document full-text PDFs using the Scopus Document Download Manager (DDM) Extension. The extension uses users’ IP credentials to authenticate with publisher websites and download documents for the users, removing the need to navigate to multiple places to find the full-text. However, user feedback has demonstrated that there are various issues with the current method, including accessing non-downloadable OA (Open Access) articles and incorrect documents being downloaded.
To address this, we are partnering with the Mendeley Web Importer (MWI) browser extension and onboarding its capabilities to also allow for document download via Scopus. MWI integrates multiple components (such as GetFTR, PDF Locator, OA documents through UnPayWall) which, in combination, should bring a superior user experience in full-text access.
The roll-out of the MWI will begin with a testing phase in May, aimed at a sub-set of the Scopus user base so that we can ensure a positive user experience before a full roll-out. During the test phase, we will be monitoring the performance of the new extension, the share of documents users are able to download as well as direct user feedback.
Benefits of MWI as compared to Scopus DDM
- MWI integrates several components allowing for broader coverage of downloadable PDFs:
- Via the GetFTR API, an entitlement check is carried out to ensure users get the best version of the article that they are entitled to, based on their institutional subscriptions.
- Using UnPayWall as the data provider, full-text PDFs of the OA documents (gold / hybrid / bronze) are retrieved.
- In cases where neither the GetFTR API nor UnPayWall result in a downloadable PDF, MWI uses the user's IP credentials to navigate to the article’s web page and attempt to authenticate and retrieve the PDF.
This approach is designed to ensure that users get the full-text articles that they are entitled to via their institutional subscription or the OA documents available to everyone, when institutional access isn’t available. The need to navigate to multiple websites to search for the full-text is therefore substantially decreased if not entirely removed.
The MWI browser extension is already used by the Mendeley user base for importing references into the Mendeley Reference Manager. The capability of the extension is being expanded to enable Scopus users to download full-text PDFs to the local download folder. This means that users of both Scopus and Mendeley will only need one extension in place of two and those users who already have MWI extension installed won’t need to install anything new.
The MWI extension is supported on Chrome, Edge and Firefox whereas the current Scopus DDM is available on Chrome and Firefox only. Adding Edge to the supported browsers is a significant step for us in terms of broadening access to the extension in China. We are working on making the extension accessible on Safari in the future.
Current Scopus Document Download Manager
New Mendeley Web Importer
More on the GetFTR initiative: https://www.getfulltextresearch.com/