how do i search for a document in scopus

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How do I search in Scopus?

You can search in Scopus by document, author, or organization:

Scopus allows you to search for publications based on search terms relating to specific parts of a document (e.g., title, author, keywords, ISSN).

To search for a document:

• Go to the Scopus homepage . The default page is the Document search.
• Select the fields to search within from the Search within drop-down.
• Enter your terms in the Search documents field.

Note: To add search terms, select 'Add search field' for an additional search term line.

• Select 'Search' . For information about how to work with document search results, see document search results .

Document search tips:

Use boolean operators to combine different search queries and proximity operators to find words near/within a specified distance of each other.

Boolean operators - OR, AND, AND NOT

Rules for using boolean operators:.

• AND NOT e.g., KEY(mouse AND NOT cat OR dog) is interpreted as KEY((mouse) AND NOT (cat OR dog))
• AND NOT should always be used at the end of the query.
• To search for a specific phrase, enclose the terms in double quotes (" ") or for an exact match use braces ({}).

Proximity operators - W/ n , PRE/ n

You can choose between two Proximity operators to find words within a certain distance from each other: Pre/ n specifies a word order whereas W/ n does not.

Tips for proximity operators:

There are two ways of searching for phrases, an exact search and a loose/approximate phrase, depending on how exact a match you want to find.

Loose/approximate phrases

Double quotation marks are important when searching for a loose/approximate phrase.

• Loose phrase: TITLE-ABS-KEY( "heart attack") searches for documents where heart attack appear together in the title, abstract, or keywords.
• Not a loose phrase: TITLE-ABS-KEY( heart attack) searches for documents where heart and attack appear together or separately in the title, abstract, or keywords.
• Dots and hyphens are treated as intentional. When a dot/hyphen is used, it is ignored and the search terms are treated as a loose phrase
• heart-attack or heart.attack is searched as "heart attack"
• Wildcards work: "criminal* liab*" finds criminally liable and criminal liability .
• Plurals and spelling variants are included: heart attack includes heart attacks , anesthesia includes anaesthesia .
• Double quotation marks can be used to search specifically for stop words and special characters: "crocodiles with alligators" will return results such as: Crocodiles with alligators are among the largest reptiles .
• title-abs-key (*/art) is searched as title-abs-key(art)
• abs(iwv-*) is searched as abs(iwv)

Exact phrase

To find documents that contain an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in braces: {oyster toadfish} .

RESULT: This includes any stop words , spaces, and punctuation which you included in the braces. For example:

• {heart-attack} and {heart attack} will return different results because the dash is included.
• Wildcards are searched as actual characters, e.g., {health care?} returns results such as: Who pays for health care?

You can search for accented characters either with or without the accent. The results contain both variants.

Example:  España and Espana are both found whether you entered espana or españa .

This also applies to special characters.

Letters from the Greek alphabet and their spelled-out equivalents – alpha; α

Special characters that have common equivalents like π r⊃2; - pr2

Special characters with no common equivalents, punctuation, and spacing are ignored.

To search specifically for a special character or a punctuation mark, enclose it in braces {π}.

Using the singular form of a word in your search retrieves the singular, plural, and possessive forms of most words.

Scopus applies word stemming to fields containing text (not to names, affiliations, dates, or numbers). Word stemming ensures that different occurrences of a word are found.

Example : criterion finds criteria and criterion

Use these filters to reduce your search results:

Scopus coverage focuses on primary document types from serial publications. Primary means that the author is identical to the researcher in charge of the presented findings. Scopus does not include secondary document types, where the author is not identical to the person behind the presented research, such as obituaries and book reviews.

Document types covered in Scopus

• Article or Review
• Book or Book Chapter
• Book Chapter
• Article or Conference Paper
• Conference Paper
• Conference Review
• Short Survey
• Business Article or Press

Document types not covered in Scopus

• Book reviews
• Conference meeting

For more in-depth information about document types, see the Scopus Content Coverage Guide .

The author search helps you find documents written by a specific person in Scopus , even if the author is listed inconsistently. For example, an author may be cited as Smith, J in one document, but as Smith, John in another. The Scopus Author Identifier allows you to identify between different authors in author search results.

You can also search using an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID). For more information, see How do I search for authors using ORCID?

• From the Scopus homepage , select the 'Authors' tab.
• From the 'Search using' dropdown, select 'Author name' to search by name or select 'ORCID' .
• Enter the last name of the author in the 'Enter last name' field. Alternatively, enter the ORCID number. The last name of the author is required. You can also enter a first name or initials, and an affilation name to further narrow your results.
• Select 'Search' .

Author search tips

Author Search results include any available author name variations that match your search criteria. For example, searching for Smith, J will also produce Smith, John in the results.

Here is how to limit your search results (e.g., for Smith, J.):

Unsure about spelling the author’s name? Use Wildcards to replace letters with unknowns:

The hyphen is treated as punctuation and therefore ignored if it is not in an exact phrase. Wildcards must be used with words because they cannot be standalone. When an hyphen is placed between a wildcard and a word, the wildcard will be dropped.

• Author last name: Smith-*
• Author last name: Jones and Affiliation: *-smithsonian

It is also possible to search an Author in Advanced Search with their author ID. For example: AU-ID(000000000)

Multiple author IDs can be searched as well: For example: AU-ID(000000000) OR AU-ID(111111111) OR AU-ID(222222222)

Any author search field Codes can be used with OR between them to search multiple authors.

An organization search returns a list of organizations with links to documents and a summary of the organization's research areas, collaborations, and publications.

To search for documents and authors within those organizations:

• From the Scopus homepage , select the 'Organizations' tab.
• Enter the name of an organization in the 'Search organizations' field.
• Select the arrow to search.

Affiliation search tips

• AND NOT e.g., ‘KEY(mouse AND NOT cat OR dog)’ is interpreted as ‘KEY((mouse) AND NOT (cat OR dog))’
• To search for a specific phrase, enclose the terms in double quotes (" ") or, for an exact match, brackets ({}).

Use these characters (wildcards) to find variations of a word:

Note: The hyphen is treated as punctuation and therefore ignored if it is not in an exact phrase. Wildcards must be used with words because they cannot be standalone. When an hyphen is placed between a wildcard and a word, the wildcard will be dropped.

• Affiliation name: micro-*

For example, you can enter Técnicas or Tecnicas for your search. Searching for Tecnicas returns results for e as well as é.

Here are some different field codes you could use:

You can combine two or more searches with the operators OR , AND , and AND NOT using Combine queries.

• From the Scopus homepage , select the 'Search history' tab.
• Choose two or more searches and select 'Combine queries' .
• From the Combine queries page, select the desired operator from the operator dropdown for each query combination. Note: Select an operator from the Change all operators dropdown to syncronize all operators.
• Select 'Show results' to view the results of the combined query.

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Related Articles:

• How to conduct a basic search tutorial
• How can I best use the Advanced search?
• How do I work with document search results?
• Scopus tutorials
• What is the Scopus Author Identifier?

For further assistance:

Scopus LibGuide: Searching Scopus

• Become a registered user
• Searching Scopus
• Author profile
• Affiliation profile
• Help & Support

In Scopus, you can search by Documents, Authors or Organization. For details of the Author and Organization search please see the Author and Organization tabs.

Document search

Documents include journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, articles in press and data papers. Follow the steps below to learn how to perform a basic document search:

• By default, Scopus will search in the Article title, Abstract and Keywords of documents
• You can specify in which fields to search using the drop-down menu [2]
• Use the +Add search field [3]  option to add additional fields 
• Each new search field is combined using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT [4]
• Select Add date range [5] to either select a publication date range or to specify an "added to Scopus" date range
• To see a complete list of advanced field codes, select Advanced document search [6]
• Your Search History is displayed with the option to Set Alert [7] to notify you by email of new search results in Scopus that match that search
• Select More [8] to save an important query or to delete a query
• To combine queries from your history, choose two or more searches and select Combine queries [9]

Document results page

Editing your search, saving your search and setting alerts

• Saving your search and setting up alerts  [1]
• Quickly review or edit your search from the top of the page [2]
• By default, the search results are sorted by date. Use the ‘Sort by’ drop-down menu to sort in a different order. [3]

Refine your results [4]   From the left-hand menu, you can:

• Search within your results
• Author name
• Open Access type (learn more about the Open Access filter below)
• Subject area
• Publication stage
• Affiliation
• Funding sponsor

Registered users can sign in to:

• Save searches
• Set up alerts to be notified when new documents are added to Scopus that match this search
• Learn how to become a registered user

Export results

Export selected search results [5]   to various file types, reference managers and platforms : 

• RIS format (for import into EndNote

Analyze search results

Analyze Search Results button [6]

Use this feature to gain further insights into any list of document results.

Search Tips

Search Tips in Scopus

• loose phrase, use double quotation marks
• “heart attack” will search for documents where heart and attack appear together
• asterisk is a wildcard
• “criminal* insan*” finds criminally insane and criminal insanity. 
• exact phrase, enclose the phrase in braces  { }

Note: {heart-attack} and {heart attack} return different results, as the first will search for results that contain a hyphen between heart and attack

• Discover more search tips in the Support Center A full guide to boolean and proximity operators, loose and exact phrases, special characters, and other search tips. 

Secondary documents

Scopus also features non-Scopus references, called ‘secondary documents’, which are not indexed in our database for three possible reasons:

• They are retrieved from the references or citations of the documents that are covered by Scopus
• Scopus is unable to match documents with certainty due to incomplete or incorrect data
• There is missing content

To view these non-Scopus references, click ‘S econdary documents ’ above your search results.

• Learn more about secondary documents

Cited reference search

Scopus provides the ability to search the list of cited references in articles, books, etc. If the reference which you are starting with is very relevant to your research, other related publications have probably cited references that are also relevant to your research. Cited reference searching is a useful extension to your standard keyword search.

• Learn how to perform a cited reference search

Open Access filters

Refine your results  [4]

On the document details page, you can filter by Open Access types,   including:

• All open access
• Gold: Documents that are in journals that only publish open access
• Hybrid Gold:  Documents that are in journals that provide authors the choice of publishing open access
• Bronze:  Published version of record or manuscript accepted for publication; the publisher has chosen to provide temporary or permanent free access
• Green:  Published version or manuscript accepted for publication, available at the repository
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• Next: Author profile >>
• Last Updated: Apr 17, 2024 12:12 AM
• URL: https://elsevier.libguides.com/Scopus

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Scopus: Document Search

• Getting Started

Document Search

• Cited Reference Search & Analysis
• Search Results
• Personalization

Document Search is the default search page in Scopus. Select from a variety of search fields including article title, abstract, keyword, author name, publication date, and references. Scopus searches the bibliographic record, not the full-text of documents. 

Watch our tutorial below for more information:

Author Search

Scopus allows users to search by name or ORCID to find the profile of a known author. Watch our tutorial below to learn how to conduct an author search:

Search Tips

• Choose specific terms that are closely related to your research topic, including terms you might use when discussing your topic with a colleague such as jargon, synonyms, and abbreviations.
• Scopus searches are  not  case sensitive.
• AND  limits search results, finding articles with both terms
• OR  broadens results, finding articles with either term
• NOT  eliminates terms from the results, finding articles with one term but not the other
• Add an asterisk (*) to replace multiple characters in a word (eg. biol* returns biology, biologist)
• Add a question mark (?) to replace a single character (eg. disrupt?rs for disrupters and disruptors)
• PRE/#  means "precedes by," meaning your first term must precede the second by # number of terms. 
• W# means "within," meaning your search terms must be within # number of terms of each other. 
• Use {brackets} to search for an exact phrase, and quotation marks to search for approximate phrases.
• << Previous: Searching in Scopus
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• Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024 4:15 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.illinois.edu/scopus

Scopus user guide: Searching Scopus

• Become a registered user
• Searching Scopus
• Author profile
• Affiliation profile
• Help & Support

In Scopus you can search by Documents, Authors or Affiliations.

Document search

Documents include journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, articles in press and data papers. Follow the steps below to learn how to perform a basic document search:

• By default, Scopus will search in the Article title, Abstract and Keywords of documents
• You can specify in which fields to search using the drop-down menu [2].
• Use the +Add search field [3] option to add additional fields
• Each new search field is combined using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT [4]
• To see a complete list of advanced field codes, select Advanced document search [5]

Author search

When you search by authors, you can search by last and/or first name. You also have the option to search by ORCID iD.

• Start your author search

Document results page

Refine search results

Refine your results [2]

From the left-hand menu, you can:

• Search within your results
• Select only open access documents (learn more about the Open Access filter below)
• Access Type
• Publication Year
• Affiliation
• Author Name
• Subject Area

Analyze search results

Analyze Search Results button [4]

Use this feature to gain further insights into any list of document results.

Cited reference search

Scopus provides the ability to search the list of cited references in articles, books, etc. If the reference which you are starting with is very relevant to your research, other related publications have probably cited references which are also relevant to your research. Cited reference searching is a useful extension to your standard keyword search.

• Learn how to perform a cited reference search

Search tips

Search Tips in Scopus

• loose phrase, use double quotation marks “heart attack” will search for documents where heart and attack appear together
• asterisk is a wildcard “criminal* insan*” finds criminally insane and criminal insanity.
• exact phrase, enclose the phrase in braces  { }

Note: {heart-attack} and {heart attack} return different results, as the first will search for results that contain a hyphen between heart and attack

• Discover more search tips in the Support Center A full guide to boolean and proximity operators, loose and exact phrases, special characters, and other search tips.

Limit your search

Filter options:

• Choose from 'All years' or a range of years by using the drop down arrows (the default is 'All years')
• Specify 'Anytime' or within the last 7, 14 or 30 days by using the drop down arrow (the default is 'Anytime')

Affiliation search

When you search by affiliation, just type the affiliation's name. The search will begin to auto-populate.

• Start your affiliation search

Saving your search and setting alerts

Saving your search and setting up alerts [1]

Quickly review or edit your search from the top of the page. Registered users can sign in to:

• Save searches
• Set up alerts to be notified when new documents are added to Scopus that match this search

Learn how to become a registered user

Export results

Export selected search results [3] to:

• RIS format (for import into EndNote)

Open Access filters

On the document details page, you can filter by Open Access types, including:

• Gold open: Documents that are in journals which only publish open access
• Hybrid Gold: Documents that are in journals which provide authors the choice of publishing open access
• Bronze: Published version of record or manuscript accepted for publication; the publisher has chosen to provide temporary or permanent free access
• Green: Published version or manuscript accepted for publication, available at repository

Secondary documents

Scopus also features non-Scopus references, called ‘secondary documents’, which are not indexed in our database for three possible reasons:

• They are retrieved from the references or citations of the documents that are covered by Scopus
• Scopus is unable to match documents with certainty due to incomplete or incorrect data
• There is missing content

To view these non-Scopus references, click ‘ View secondary documents ’ above your search results.

• Learn more about secondary documents
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• Last Updated: Apr 11, 2024 10:07 AM
• URL: https://lit.libguides.com/scopus

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Documents search

• Introducing Scopus
• Techniques for searching
• Combining searches using the search history
• Refining and expanding your search
• Author search
• Printing, emailing and exporting your results
• Saving results and searches
• Additional search results
• Altmetrics / PlumX metrics
• Further help

Use the 'Documents' search option to search for publications on a particular topic, or other search criteria.

• Enter your first search term in the search box.
• Choose the field you wish to search from the drop-down menu. If you are searching for records on a particular subject or topic you can leave this as the default Article title, Abstract, Keywords .
• To add more search fields click on the + add search field button.
• Choose date limits if required with add date range . Then hit Search.

Document search tips

• The search is not case sensitive.
• A hyphen is considered a space.
• Scopus will automatically search for some variations on words, such as plurals, e.g. criterion will find criteria .
• ‘Stop words’ such as 'the', 'his', 'because' are ignored, unless the phrase is enclosed in quotation marks "".
• The question mark  ? symbol will replace a single character, while an asterisk  * will replace multiple characters, e.g. wom?n will find women or woman ; colour* will find colourful , coloured , etc.
• Boolean searching is available – choose from the drop down boxes when search fields are added, or type in the operators ( AND , OR , AND NOT ).
• Take care if using multiple operators as they are processed in the following order of precedence: OR, AND, AND NOT.

How to conduct a basic search

Scopus 'How to conduct a basic search' tutorial video .

Search operators explained

The search operators AND and OR are used in searching to combine search terms together.

AND retrieves articles which contain all of your concepts. For example, if you are interested in the use of cognitive behaviour therapy for gambling disorders, you would search for cognitive behaviour therapy AND gambling.

OR retrieves records which contain any of your concepts. For example, you might search for cognitive behaviour therapy OR CBT to retrieve all articles on the topic.

How to search for a phrase in SCOPUS

There are two different ways to search for phrases in Scopus, a loose phrase or an exact phrase.

• Using "quotation marks" will search for a loose phrase, where the words appear together in a fixed order. By default, Scopus automatically includes common variant spellings (eg US/UK) and most plural forms in the search. A loose phrase search can include wildcards, eg "wind turbine*" to match "wind turbine" or "wind turbines"; other punctuation is ignored. Be careful if copy-pasting - Scopus only recognises standard quotation marks "", not smart quotation marks “” which are often added by word processors.
• To search for an exact phrase, use {curly brackets}. This will search only for the exact words as given, ignoring spelling variation or plurals. It will also force matching for punctuation.

"blue bird" = blue bird , blue birds , blue-bird

{blue bird} = blue bird only

• << Previous: Searching Scopus
• Next: Techniques for searching >>
• Last Updated: May 10, 2024 10:19 AM
• URL: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/scopus

Gerstein Science Information Centre

Searching the literature: a guide to comprehensive searching in the health sciences.

• Formulate your question
• Precision vs. Sensitivity
• Gather synonyms
• Construct strategy using OR/AND
• Use subject headings & textwords
• Choose your database(s)
• Conduct your search
• Test Your Search
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SCOPUS Video Tutorials

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• Searching Series Workshop: Course Materials This link opens in a new window

This series of videos is designed to guide you through searching comprehensively in SCOPUS. 

1. Introduction to SCOPUS

2. Searching with Textwords

3. Advanced Textword Searching

4. Combining Search Lines

5. Saving and Documenting Searches

6. Exporting Searches

7. Search Analyzer

This work is openly licensed via  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 .  For information on this guide contact  Erica Nekolaichuk , Faculty Liaison & Instruction Librarian at the Gerstein Science Information Centre. 

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Searching Scopus: Using Scopus

Created by health science librarians.

About Scopus

Basic search, advanced search, author name search, citation searching, creating alerts, exporting items to citation managers, analyzing results, create bibliography.

• Comparison between Scopus and Web of Science
• Journal Metrics
• Helpful Resources and Tutorials

Scopus is an abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and web sources with tools to track, analyze, and visualize research. Scopus provides access to a broad portfolio of peer-reviewed content from around the world. 

Scopus includes the records from the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, among other included sources. Scopus uses four broad subject areas:  Physical Sciences , Health Sciences , Social Sciences, and Life Sciences . 

Scopus allows users to:

• Search for articles, conference proceedings,trade publications, and book chapters on a topic
• Find author information, such as H-index, and lists of publications
• Locate Impact metrics for a journal title using SNIP, SJR, and CiteScore
• Perform citation searches on known articles
• Identify promising journals in which to publish
• Match an organization with its research output
• Locate potential collaborators or subject experts
• Manage your impact with your ORCID ID
• Set Citation Alerts

Search Form

Below is the Scopus search screen. Enter your first search term into the search field. If you have more than one concept to your search, select "Add Search Field" to add additional search fields, or conduct separate searches and combine them later using the "Search" button. 

Scopus does NOT have MeSH terms  or other subject headings on which to search. 

Scopus defaults to searching an article's Title, Abstract and Keywords.  You can change this in Advanced (see the tab to the left for information on Advanced searching).

Adapted from Rush University Library's  "Scopus User Guide"

On the Advanced search form, you can create a search using field codes, proximity operators, or boolean operators to narrow the scope of the search.

To create an advanced search, Click "Advanced Search" from the main search page

To search for keywords in an article's title or abstract, type in  TITLE-ABS before your search terms.  Be sure to use parentheses!  For example, this is correct:  (TITLE-ABS( children OR pediatrics))   but this is not correct:  TITLE-ABS children OR pediatrics

When doing a Boolean search, Scopus insists that parentheses be used correctly.  If you get a message about a Syntax Error, check your (( )).

Scopus needs Boolean operators (AND, OR) to be capitalized.  To exclude in Scopus, you must use AND NOT (not just 'NOT').

Scopus is a great place to look for information about a particular author's published works.    You can start your search for information on Scopus's main search page by clicking "Authors."  While Scopus is a compilation of peer-reviewed articles, it is not comprehensive, so keep in mind that you will only see information about the articles that have been indexed into Scopus.

Type in the author's last name, and first name if it will be helpful to locate them.  It is often a good idea to put an Affiliation as well.

The author's information will appear.  To see all their published work that has been indexed into Scopus, click the box in front of their name and then click "Show documents."

If you are checking on your own citations and notice that you have more than one listing, click "Request to merge authors."

If this is your information and there are multiple BOXES for your name, you can merge them by clicking the "Request to merge authors" link and following the steps.

For a visual representation of this author's work, click the box for All, then "View citation information."

• Scopus Advanced Search Video Tutorial

To find citation counts in Scopus

• Go to the  Scopus database
• Search by the document's title
• In the results list, look in the far-right hand column for the citation count.
• To see what documents cited the document, click on the citation count.

By registering as a Scopus user, you are able to create search, document, and author alert s to stay up-to-date at your desired frequency. Use these alerts to receive email notices when new documents are loaded on Scopus. From the Alerts page, you can create alerts, view the latest results for an alert, edit alerts, and delete alerts. There is no limit on the number of alerts you can create.

A Search alert is a saved search that you can schedule to run at certain intervals. If any new results are found, you will receive an email with the first 25 results and a link into Scopus to access all new results. You must be logged in to set an alert or work with your saved alerts.

To set a new search alert:

• From the  D ocument Search page, perform a new search. The Search results page opens.
• From the search results page, click  Set alert . The Set Alert pop-up appears.
• Set the frequency and day of week to start alerts.

To set an author alert:

• From the Author page, perform a new search. The Search results page opens.
• From the search results page, click an author's name. The author details page opens.
• From the author details page, click  Get citation alerts . The Set Alert Author Citation Alert pop-up opens.

To set a document alert:

• From the Document search page, perform a new search. The Search results page opens.
• From the search results page, click an document's name. The Document details page opens.
• From the Document details page, click  Set citation alerts . The Set Document Citation Alert pop-up opens.

To export items to SciWheel, EndNote, Zotero, or another citation manager, look in the grey bar (found at the top of your search results) for the words "RIS Export."   Note that you can also email citations (with links) to yourself in this bar.

You can export or email individual citations using the links in this bar, or you can save citations into a List and export/email the entire list at once by using the List function.  See "Saving Items in a List" in the tabs to the left for more information. 

The drop-down arrow next to "RIS Export" provides options for what information you'd like to export.  We recommend checking of all boxes so that all information is sent.

>Analyze Search Results

Scopus offers several built-in functions for analyzing search results.  You can find these options here:

The analysis tools provide a summary view of aspects of the search results, such as counts of publications:

• By document source (ex. Journal Title)
• By affiliation (author organization)
• By document type (ie. journal article, book chapter, etc.)
• And several other criterion

With Scopus, you can create a bibliography of articles on the fly. 

1. Select the articles in your search set that you would like to include in your bibliography. You can do this by checking off the boxes of the articles you want, or by using the "add to list" feature to just add those articles you want. When you add the articles to the list, your list will open. From there, select all. 

2.  Click on the three dots at the top right that indicate "more menu options".  Select the option "Create Bibliography".

3. Select which format you want (HTML or text) and select the appropriate citation style. Click on "Create Bibliography".

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• Last Updated: May 14, 2024 12:50 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.unc.edu/scopus

Topic: Systematic Searching for Evidence Synthesis

• Developing & Documenting Your Search Strategy
• Selecting Databases to Search
• Searching APA PsycInfo
• Searching Embase
• Searching PubMed

What is Scopus?

Controlled vocabulary in scopus, truncation & wildcards, phrase & proximity searching, designing a systematic search in scopus, exporting results from scopus.

• Citation Chasing
• Citation Management This link opens in a new window
• Screening Tools
• Learn More about Evidence Synthesis

Scopus is a very large, multidisciplinary database. Most evidence synthesis projects include one major database of this kind, and Scopus is the one we recommend. Web of Science, to which we do not subscribe, is its major competitor.

In terms of journal title coverage, Scopus has an almost 99% overlap with both Embase and MEDLINE. It also includes unique content not found in those two databases.

• Scopus Scholarly journal articles and conference papers on any topic in science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts & humanities. Includes cited references and h-index information.

Unlike some disciplinary databases, Scopus does not have its own controlled vocabulary, so you'll only be doing keyword searching. Scopus records may include "indexed keywords," which are subject headings from other database thesauri, such as MeSH from MEDLINE, or Emtree from Embase. They are not fully consistent with what you'd see for the same reference in one of those databases, however, and you can't search any thesauri in Scopus, so it can't serve as a substitute for searching MEDLINE, Embase, or other databases with unique controlled vocabulary.

Scopus offers two wildcards.

? (question mark) : A ? represents a single character. For example, wom?n  finds woman or women .

* (asterisk) : A * represents zero or more characters and can be used anywhere in a string of characters, including at the beginning. That said, it's most frequently used at the end for truncation purposes. For example,  wom*   finds woman, women, or wombats; computer*   finds  computer, computers,  or  computerize . * can be used on any or all words in a loose phrase, such as  "health* wom*"   for  healthy women  or  women's health  (remember, in a loose phrase, the words must be in the same field, but not necessarily next to one another).

Phrase Searching

Scopus offers two main phrase searching options:

{exact phrase}, in which your terms are enclosed in curly brackets, requires that the words appear next to each other, in that order, with no other spaces, punctuation, or truncation. For example: TITLE-ABS-KEY({heart attack}) finds heart attack , but not heart attacks .

"loose phrase", with terms in quotation marks, requires that the words appear in the same field. In loose phrases, you can use truncation on any or all words. For example, TITLE-ABS-KEY("heart attack*") finds sources with heart attack or heart attacks as a phrase or separately in either title, abstract, or keyword fields. It won't find sources with heart palpitations in the title plus anxiety attacks in the abstract.

Proximity Searching

In proximity or adjacency searching, you can tell the database to look for words near each other in a variety of ways. Scopus offers two proximity operators: Pre/n and W/n

Preceding , which uses the format Pre/n , finds words when they precede another word by no more than n words, where n is the number of your choosing. For example, zika Pre/2 virus finds zika virus as well as  zika and dengue virus .

Within , which uses the format W/n , finds words within n words of one another, in any order. For example,  zika W/2 virus  finds  virus infection with zika, virus like zika, zika virus,  and even  virus, zika .

Some helpful terminology here: a database includes many records . Each record is a collection of information about a single item, such as an article. Records are made up of fields , sections of the record that provides a specific piece of information about the item described (the title, the author, the abstract, etc.). Which fields interest you, and how they're searched, differs from database to database.

Since Scopus does not have its own controlled vocabulary, you'll only be doing keyword searching. The default search fields, which work well for systematic searching, are title, abstract, author keywords, and index terms. This default set of fields is abbreviated in the search as TITLE-ABS-KEY.

In general, your best strategy is to set up each concept in your research question as a single search, then combine those searches with AND. You can do this from either the basic or advanced document search screens. Below is how the basic search looks. Leave the drop-down to the default Article title, Abstract, Keywords. Use the search box to enter a search for your first concept.

After you've completed each of your main concept searches, return to the search page and scroll down to your Search History. Select the searches you want to combine. If you've used one search per concept, as in the example below, you can select all your concepts. Tap Combine queries.

In the Combine queries box, the default is to combine with AND, which is appropriate in this example. Tap Show results. 

You can export all results from an Scopus search, up to 20,000 citations. Check the box to select All above your search results, then tap Export.

Choose RIS Format.

Choose any or all available fields to include in your export.

If there are more than 20,000 items in your results, Scopus will warn you that an RIS file can only support the first 20,000. You can work around this by using date limits in your results to create batches of 20,000 or fewer items.

An RIS file will download. You can import the RIS file into the citation management tool of your choice.

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• Last Updated: May 8, 2024 8:56 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uconn.edu/systematic_searching

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Scopus Training Module 1: Topical Search, Alerts and Analysis

• Introduction to Scopus
• Lesson 1: Search & alerts
• Lesson 2: Expand a search

Lesson Overview

Tutorial: analyze your search results, tutorial: download and export search results, work with search results - help files.

• Summary & Challenge Problem
• Scopus Training Module 2: Author Identity
• Scopus Training Module 3: Metrics
• Scopus Training Module 4: Institutional Insights

In this lesson, we look at the various ways you can work with your search results. You will learn how to:

• Analyze your search results
• Download document results
• Export your results to a variety of reference managers
• Create a bibliography
• Practice Activity

In this video tutorial, we follow a research assistant who wants to identify trends in the published literature on coffee production. You will learn how to use the Analyze search results feature.

Note:  The Scopus interface has been updated since this video was created. The links to secondary documents, patents and datasets (via Mendeley Data) are now at the top of search results.

Note : For the best viewing experience, select the double arrows at the bottom right of the player to view the video at full screen. You can also  download a written transcript (Links to an external site.)  of the video tutorial.

Rajen, an early career researcher, has just received his first major grant to explore the effectiveness of corticosteroids in treating eosinophilic esophagitis. He needs help with two major tasks: Identifying which journals publish the most in his research area and finding possible collaborators for his research project. In this exercise, you will show him how to do this by using Analyze search results.

• Search for “eosinophilic esophagitis” and corticosteroid within the default fields of Article Title, Abstract, Keywords.
• Select Analyze search results.
• Select the card “Documents per year by source." Here you can see which journals are the most important for him to follow based on the number of publications in each.
• Select the card “Documents by author” to find other authors publishing in this area who may be potential future collaborators for Rajen.

Note: Refer to the  answer key (Links to an external site.)  for this assignment to check your results.

In this video tutorial, we follow a research assistant who has selected a list of results that he would like to save to his reference manager. You will learn how to download and export documents.

Note:  For the best viewing experience, select the double arrows at the bottom right of the player to view the video at full screen. You can also  download a written transcript (Links to an external site.)  of the video tutorial.

Rajen, the early career researcher exploring the effectiveness of corticosteroids in treating eosinophilic esophagitis, would now like to export a list of search results to his reference manager, Mendeley. In this exercise, you will show him how to select a list of documents to export, export them to Mendeley, and save his Mendeley settings so that he can export directly in the future.

• Run a search for “eosinophilic esophagitis” and corticosteroid.
• Select the documents in the results list that he would like to export.
• Click on Export. A new screen will appear – choose Mendeley as your method of export and then select Export.
• Update the export and reference management default settings for future sessions.

You have now completed lesson three. When you are ready, please move on to the next lesson.

TIP: The following Scopus help files contain additional information on the topics we have covered.

• How do I change my export and reference management settings?
• How do I download documents?
• How do I email, print, or create a bibliography, or save documents to PDF format?
• How do I export documents from Scopus?
• How do I use the Analyze search results function?.
• How do I view accented characters in my exported items?.
• How do I work with document search results?
• How is Mendeley used in Scopus?
• How is RefWorks used in Scopus?
• What fields are used when exporting documents from Scopus?
• << Previous: Lesson 2: Expand a search
• Next: Summary & Challenge Problem >>
• Last Updated: Nov 16, 2022 2:09 PM
• URL: https://libguides.library.arizona.edu/scopus-module1

Scopus: How to use it effectively

What's in scopus, basic search, advanced search options, search hints, refine your search, analyze results, video tutorials.

• Author Tools & Analytics
• York College in Scopus
• Research Help

Students, faculty and staff at York College have access to Scopus on campus and remotely using the CUNY Login.

Scopus  is a large  abstract and citation database  of peer-reviewed journal articles, books, conference proceedings and patents. It includes:

• 21,950+ peer-reviewed journals (including over 3,600 full open access journals and "Articles-in-Press” from over 8,000 journals)
• 8 million+ conference papers (proceedings and journals)
• 150,000+ books & book series
• 280 trade publications
• 39 million+ patent records

Scopus does not have full articles, but it will link to the articles in York Library when available. For a very simple way to automatically get PDFs from Scopus, you can add the LibKey Nomad browser extension. (See also: installing LibKey Nomad )

Scopus Search Tips

• In the search box, enter your search terms or phrases. These are your topic keywords -- you might need to try combinations of keywords to find the most relevant results.
• Using the drop-down menu, choose the field that the terms should appear in. The default choice is Article title, Abstract, Keywords which will look for your keywords in these parts of every article. You can also choose other options, such as author or source title.
• You can add more text boxes by clicking  [+] next to the dropdown to add search fields. You can add as many as you like, but remember you can always add more later if you need them. Scopus has a "search within results" feature that lets you continue to narrow your search results as needed.
• If you use more than one text box, you need to select an operator from the drop-down list.

• AND: Results will contain ALL terms listed. This narrows your search.
• OR: Results will contain ONE of the terms listed. This broadens your search.
• AND NOT: Results must not contain this term. This helps exclude specific results.

Once you have entered your keywords, hit Search.

You can further  Limit  your search with additional options. 

• Published: Limit your search to articles published within a range of years.
• Added to Scopus in the last  n  days: Limit your search to documents that have been added to Scopus in the last 7, 14, or 30 days.
• Document Type : Article, Book, Review, Conference Paper, etc.
• Access Type: You can limit to Open Access documents only

You can also check out the Scopus Document Search Tutorial video , which will demonstrate how to enter search terms and specify fields, make a search more specific to narrow your results, and how to work with previous searches from the current session.

For more help,  contact a librarian  or check out this  tutorial on working with document search results .

On the Advanced search form, you can create a search using field codes, proximity operators, or Boolean operators to narrow the scope of the search. For example:

• ALL("ear infection") and AUTHOR-NAME(jones)
• TITLE-ABS-KEY(food allergies child*) and PUBYEAR > 2003
• SRCTITLE(*field ornith*) AND VOLUME(15) and ISSUE(3) AND PAGES(67-99)
• See  Field Codes  for more information on creating search strings.

To create an advanced search:

• Enter your search terms using proximity or Boolean operators as necessary to connect them.
• As you are typing, Scopus may highlight suggested codes, provide code definitions, and suggest examples that you may want to use.
• Click Search.

To view your search in outline form:

If you are constructing a complex search, you can click Outline query before you hit search to view your results in outline form.

• Outline query  lets you view your search in outline form. Results will display each section of your search starting with an operator on a separate line.
• Compact query  lets you return to the normal form of the search.

As always, you can  ask a librarian  for more help or check out the support center for more advanced search tips !

• Multiple words ( new york city ) entered into the search box will retrieve references containing ALL of the words ( new OR   york  OR city)
• Use double quotes to search for a phrase ("heart attack").     
• The asterisk * is the wildcard and will search for any word that starts with what you have before it -- toxic* will search for toxic, toxicology, toxicity, etc.
• Entering either British or American spelling (color, colour) will search for both variations.
• Searching for a singular noun (ribosome) will also search for plural nouns and possessives (ribosomes, ribosome's).

Search within Results :

• Use this search box to enter additional keywords to narrow your results.

Refine Results:

• Use the checkboxes in the sidebar to filter your results by year or date range, subject area, document type, source type, author, affiliation, and more.
• Limit to  changes the results list to display only the items you selected.
• Exclude  removes the items you selected from the results list. 

For any kind of search, once you have retrieved a list of documents, you can click the  Analyze Results  button in the top left corner of the results box to open up the analytics tools. Each tab contains data visualizations and charts that can downloaded, filtered, and so on. Metrics include publication year, source, authors, affiliations, country, document type, and subject area. 

Elsevier has created a number of visual tutorials to demonstrate different tools and techniques in Scopus.

You can find all the visual tutorials and text transcripts at the Scopus Support Hub .

Note that there is no sound for the following short visual tutorials:

• Searching for documents
• Reviewing search results
• Reviewing documents
• Searching for authors
• Reviewing author details
• Searching for affiliations
• Reviewing affiliation details
• Using Scopus Sources
• Using Scopus article metrics
• Next: Author Tools & Analytics >>
• Last Updated: Apr 21, 2022 2:30 PM
• URL: https://libguides.york.cuny.edu/scopus

Document Search

Search for records from our product indexes. Successful searches are added to the Search History table. Remember to follow all applicable search rules when creating search queries.

Adding a new field sets the second field to the AND operator. You can change the AND operator to OR or NOT.

Your settings are applied to all product databases in your subscription package; administrators may set one to three search fields to display as the default search fields for their institution.

• Cited Reference Search
• Interface Language
• Search Fields
• Search Operator Precedence

To perform a document search, select the field you want to search and type a term in the search field. To add more than one search criterion, click Add Row . Select a Boolean operator and click Search .

The Web of Science Core Collection and All Database Search includes AI enabled Topic and Keyword suggestions. This feature is available to all users who perform basic or advanced search in All Data Bases and WoS Core Collection on Web of Science.

Users can modify search by selecting from algorithm generated author keywords and topic suggestions or by inputing free text in the search box. This feature enhances search experience by providing search term suggestions that can help narrow down search and improve search results relevance.

Quick add keywords

On the search results page, users will be presented with a list of keywords. These additional keywords are provided as relevant selections to the search, thus helping users to complete or modify query quickly and effectively.

Add Keyword Topic Suggestions

When users click ‘Add Keywords’, they can enter free text or use automatically generated topic suggestions. As users start typing the keyword, topic suggestions are provided in real time which can be selected to help compete their search query. This feature can help users save time and refine a search by suggesting relevant topics related to a research field and help users explore various aspects of the topic of interest.

Add ‘Free Text’ keywords

When users click on ‘Add Keywords’, the free text bar allows users to directly enter their own search terms, enabling users to search for specific terms that are important to their research.

Simplified Boolean Logic (Should Include, Must Include & Do Not Include)

When a user selects to add one keyword, this is ‘Should Include’ (OR) by default. However, when users select at least 2 keywords (or multiple keywords), they can select to manage search logic from 3-Dot menu to help complete their query with Boolean logic easily and effectively

AI Enabled Search only works when searching All Databases or Web of Science Core Collection.

All database products within the Web of Science platform includes a spellchecker that checks your search queries against common spellings and their variants to determine if alternative spellings exist that would improve your search results.

If the system determines that an alternative spelling exists, a Did You Mean text box appears offering you an alternative search query. The tool checks full terms and not truncated terms or terms within quotation marks.

For example:

• Did You Mean: Topic=(suggested search terms) [NNN results]
• Did You Mean: (Topic=(suggested search terms) AND Author=(author name)) [NNN results]

When you select the Did You Mean suggestion, a new search opens and takes you to the results page. The original search and the Did You Mean search both display in the Search History .

If no results are found, and there are no Did You Mean suggestions, you will get a list search tips to help return better results.

The product uses an implicit AND operator when you enter two or more adjacent terms in most fields. For example, entering rainbow trout fish farm in the search field is equivalent to entering rainbow AND trout AND fish AND farm ; both queries return the same number of results.

See more about search operators.

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Three ways to search for open access journals in Scopus

On July 29, 2015 Scopus launched an open access (OA) indicator for journals indexed in Scopus. The indicator allows users to easily identify open access journals within Scopus via the ‘ Browse Sources’ link. This link provides an alphabetical list of all journals, book series, trade publications and conference proceedings available in Scopus.

How to search for open access journals in Scopus:

Navigate to the ‘ Browse Sources’ tab in Scopus and choose from the following options to search for open access journals ( or watch the video below ):

Option 1 (see image 1 below)

• In the Browse box , click on the drop-down menu next to ‘ Subject Area’ to select your subject area of choice
• Also in the Browse box, tick the 'Open Access' check box: ‘Display only Open Access Journals’
• Click on ‘Display Sources.’ This search will yield only open access journals which cover your search topic
• Open access journals are indicated with an orange open access label

Image 1: Options in ‘Browse Sources’ to search for open access journals

Option1screenshot.jpg

• If you know the title of the open access journal you are looking for, click on the first letter of the open access journal’s title in the Alphabet box , below the Browse Box (see Image 2 below)
• You can identify an open access journal by the orange open access label on the results page
• In the Search box (see Image 2 below), click on the drop-down menu and select the Title, ISSN or Publisher you are looking for
• The orange open access label will appear when the title is open access

Image 2: Search open access journals title using the "alphabet" box

Option2screenshot.jpg

Scopus updates the OA journal list (part of the Scopus Title list ) three to four times a year. This time lapse may lead to minor and temporary discrepancies in the OA journal status.

You can find more information about Scopus content at the Scopus info site . Make sure to follow us on  Twitter  for timely updates or email us with any questions.

Watch a video to learn more

How to find open access titles in Scopus

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Renew Your DACA as Early as Possible

On May 13, 2024, the  Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman )  sent out this stakeholder message:

If you need to renew your Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) , the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) encourages you to file your DACA renewal request as early as possible.

• Filing your renewal request during this timeframe reduces the risk that your current DACA and employment authorization will expire before USCIS makes a decision on your renewal request. Filing earlier than 150 days before your current DACA expiration will not result in a faster decision.
• Filing online allows you to track your case, respond to requests for evidence electronically, and communicate with USCIS through your online account. It may also save you money.
• If you are submitting a paper form, make sure you use the most recent versions of Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals , Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization and the Form I-765 Worksheet . A new edition of Form I-765 went into effect on April 1, 2024.
• Review all the forms to ensure that you have signed them.
• Confirm you are paying the appropriate fees. As of April 1, 2024, the Form I-765 filing fee increased to $520 if you file the paper form and $470 if you file online. The Form I-821D filing fee will remain $85. If filing a paper form, include separate checks or money orders for the Form I-765 and Form I-821D filing fees.
• Remember, USCIS will not adjudicate your DACA-based Form I-765 until after it makes a decision on your Form I-821D DACA renewal request.
• You may request an expedite of your DACA renewal request in emergencies or unforeseen circumstances. Please see USCIS’ Immigration Relief in Emergencies or Unforeseen Circumstances page.

Why this matters

DACA renewals and the associated EAD renewals represent a sizeable workload for USCIS. Filing within the recommended timeframe reduces the risk that your current period of DACA and employment authorization will expire before you receive a decision on your renewal request.

If you file more than one year after your current DACA expires, USCIS considers it an initial request and not a renewal. While USCIS is accepting initial DACA requests, recent court rulings prohibit USCIS from approving them at this time. Therefore, you may submit an initial request by mail, but all initial DACA requests are on hold and USCIS will not adjudicate them at this time.

More information

For more information on DACA, go to USCIS’ Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Frequently Asked Questions pages. For information about current court cases affecting DACA, go to the agency’s DACA Litigation Information page.

The CIS Ombudsman is committed to working with stakeholders and USCIS to address concerns related to DACA. We will share additional updates on this topic when available.

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Governor Newsom Unveils Revised State Budget, Prioritizing Balanced Solutions for a Leaner, More Efficient Government

Published: May 10, 2024

The Budget Proposal — Covering Two Years — Cuts Spending, Makes Government Leaner, and Preserves Core Services Without New Taxes on Hardworking Californians

Watch Governor Newsom’s May Revise presentation here

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  The Governor’s revised budget proposal closes both this year’s remaining $27.6 billion budget shortfall and next year’s projected $28.4 billion deficit while preserving many key services that Californians rely on — including education, housing, health care, and food assistance.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today released a May Revision proposal for the 2024-25 fiscal year that ensures the budget is balanced over the next two fiscal years by tightening the state’s belt and stabilizing spending following the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic, all while preserving key ongoing investments.

Under the Governor’s proposal, the state is projected to achieve a positive operating reserve balance not only in this budget year but also in the next. This “budget year, plus one” proposal is designed to bring longer-term stability to state finances without delay and create an operating surplus in the 2025-26 budget year.

In the years leading up to this May Revision, the Newsom Administration recognized the threats of an uncertain stock market and federal tax deadline delays – setting aside $38 billion in reserves that could be utilized for shortfalls. That has put California in a strong position to maintain fiscal stability.

“Even when revenues were booming, we were preparing for possible downturns by investing in reserves and paying down debts – that’s put us in a position to close budget gaps while protecting core services that Californians depend on. Without raising taxes on Californians, we’re delivering a balanced budget over two years that continues the progress we’ve fought so hard to achieve, from getting folks off the streets to addressing the climate crisis to keeping our communities safe.” – Governor Gavin Newsom

Below are the key takeaways from Governor Newsom’s proposed budget:

A BALANCED BUDGET OVER TWO YEARS.  The Governor is solving two years of budget problems in a single budget, tightening the state’s belt to get the budget back to normal after the tumultuous years of the COVID-19 pandemic. By addressing the shortfall for this budget year — and next year — the Governor is eliminating the 2024-25 deficit and eliminating a projected deficit for the 2025-26 budget year that is $27.6 billion (after taking an early budget action) and $28.4 billion respectively.

CUTTING SPENDING, MAKING GOVERNMENT LEANER.  Governor Newsom’s revised balanced state budget cuts one-time spending by $19.1 billion and ongoing spending by $13.7 billion through 2025-26. This includes a nearly 8% cut to state operations and a targeted elimination of 10,000 unfilled state positions, improving government efficiency and reducing non-essential spending — without raising taxes on individuals or proposing state worker furloughs. The budget makes California government more efficient, leaner, and modern — saving costs by streamlining procurement, cutting bureaucratic red tape, and reducing redundancies.

PRESERVING CORE SERVICES & SAFETY NETS.  The budget maintains service levels for key housing, food, health care, and other assistance programs that Californians rely on while addressing the deficit by pausing the expansion of certain programs and decreasing numerous recent one-time and ongoing investments.

NO NEW TAXES & MORE RAINY DAY SAVINGS.  Governor Newsom is balancing the budget by getting state spending under control — cutting costs, not proposing new taxes on hardworking Californians and small businesses — and reducing the reliance on the state’s “Rainy Day” reserves this year.

HOW WE GOT HERE:  California’s budget shortfall is rooted in two separate but related developments over the past two years.

• First, the state’s revenue, heavily reliant on personal income taxes including capital gains, surged in 2021 due to a robust stock market but plummeted in 2022 following a market downturn. While the market bounced back by late 2023, the state continued to collect less tax revenue than projected in part due to something called “capital loss carryover,” which allows losses from previous years to reduce how much an individual is taxed.
• Second, the IRS extended the tax filing deadline for most California taxpayers in 2023 following severe winter storms, delaying the revelation of reduced tax receipts. When these receipts were able to eventually be processed, they were 22% below expectations. Without the filing delay, the revenue drop would have been incorporated into last year’s budget and the shortfall this year would be significantly smaller.

CALIFORNIA’S ECONOMY REMAINS STRONG:  The Governor’s revised balanced budget sets the state up for continued economic success. California’s economy remains the 5th largest economy in the world and for the first time in years, the state’s population is increasing and tourism spending recently experienced a record high. California is #1 in the nation for new business starts , #1 for access to venture capital funding , and the #1 state for manufacturing , high-tech , and agriculture .

Additional details on the May Revise proposal can be found in this fact sheet and at www.ebudget.ca.gov .

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IR-2024-133, May 6, 2024

WASHINGTON ― The Internal Revenue Service today reminded the 1 million people who didn’t file their tax year 2020 returns they may be eligible for a refund if they file by the May 17 deadline.

The IRS estimates more than $1 billion in refunds remain unclaimed because people haven’t filed their 2020 tax returns yet. The state-by-state table below shows how many people are potentially eligible for these refunds, and the average median refund in each state.

There's no penalty for failure to file if a refund is due. However, a return claiming a refund must be filed within three years of its due date for a refund to be allowed. After the expiration of the three-year period, the refund statute generally prevents the issuance of a refund check and the application of any credits, including overpayments of estimated taxes or withholding amounts, to other tax years that are underpaid.

For 2020 tax returns, people have a little more time than usual to file their claim for refunds. Typically, the filing deadline to claim old refunds falls around the tax deadline of April 15. However, the 2020 filing deadline was pushed to May 17, due to COVID-19, making the three-year window deadline for 2020 unfiled returns May 17, 2024. The IRS issued Notice 2023-21 on Feb. 27, 2023, providing legal guidance on claims required by the postponed deadline.

Many people who didn’t file may be eligible for more

By missing out on filing a tax return, people stand to lose more than just their refund of taxes withheld or paid during 2020. The estimate does not include credits that non-filers may be eligible to receive. Credits include the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) , the Recovery Rebate Credit or other credits that may be applicable.

Many low- and moderate-income workers may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). For 2020, the EITC was worth as much as $6,660 for taxpayers with qualifying children. The EITC helps individuals and families whose incomes are below certain thresholds.

The IRS has previously reminded those who may be entitled to the COVID-era Recovery Rebate Credit in 2020 that time is running out to file a tax return and claim their money. The Recovery Rebate Credit is a refundable credit for individuals who did not receive one or more Economic Impact Payments, also known as stimulus payments, distributed in 2020 and 2021.

Plan to file? IRS offers options to get key documents

Gathering all the necessary documents and forms to file a return for 2020 may take some time. People should start as soon as possible to make sure they have enough time to file before the May 17 deadline for 2020 refunds. Here are some options:

• Request copies of key documents. Taxpayers who are missing Forms W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 for the years 2020, 2021 or 2022 can request copies from their employer, bank or other payers.  
• Use Get Transcript Online at IRS.gov. Taxpayers who have lost contact with their employer or other payers can order a free wage and income transcript at IRS.gov using the Get Transcript Online tool. For many taxpayers, this is by far the quickest and easiest option.  
• Request a transcript. Another option is for people to file Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return , with the IRS to request a “wage and income transcript.” A wage and income transcript shows data from information returns received by the IRS, such as Forms W-2, 1099, 1098, Form 5498 and IRA contribution information. Taxpayers can use the information from the transcript to file their tax return. But plan ahead – these written requests can take several weeks; people are strongly urged to try the other options first.  
• Current and prior years’ tax forms. Tax year 2020 Forms 1040 and 1040-SR and instructions are available on the IRS.gov Forms, instructions & publications page or by calling toll-free 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Taxpayers who are unsure if they are required to file a return can visit Do I need to file a tax return? or refer to Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (For Individuals) .

Free help is available

For individuals who have not filed a federal income a tax return for 2020, the IRS offers tools and resources on IRS.gov. Free support includes the Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA) , information on What to do if you haven’t filed your return , and Frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) .

Qualified taxpayers can also access free tax preparation assistance through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs . Use the VITA Locator Tool or call 800-906-9887 to locate the nearest VITA site.

The IRS also reassures taxpayers there is no penalty for claiming a refund on a late-filed tax return. Direct deposit is recommended as the quickest and simplest way to receive a tax refund.

State-by-state estimates of individuals who may be due 2020 income tax refunds

The IRS estimated the number of individuals in each state and the median potential refund a filer may be entitled to receive. The actual refund amount will vary based on a household’s tax situation.

* Excluding credits.

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'At the direction of Donald J. Trump': Michael Cohen details Trump's role in his repeated lies

Donald Trump's former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand Tuesday and told jurors that he repeatedly lied about his hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 campaign in order "to protect Mr. Trump."

Under cross-examination, he sparred with the former president's attorney, who tried to paint Cohen as an untrustworthy witness.

Cohen said he previously claimed to be the sole person behind the $130,000 payment to Daniels as a protective measure "to stay on message, to demonstrate continued loyalty” to Trump. But in reality, he said, everything he did was "at the direction of Donald J. Trump."

Prosecutors allege that Trump falsified business records relating to the hush money payments by classifying them as legal services pursuant to a retainer agreement. Cohen testified Monday that no such retainer agreement existed.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche began his cross-examination in fiery fashion in Tuesday afternoon, telling Cohen that they'd never met but that Cohen had referred to him on TikTok as a "crying little s---."

"Sounds like something I would say," Cohen replied. Asked if he'd called Trump a "dictator douchebag," Cohen gave a similar response. Blanche then pressed him on his penchant for talking to the press and the DA's efforts to stop him from doing so while the office was investigating the case. Asked if he remembered promising to stop going on TV last year, Cohen said he did not. “I don’t recall ever agreeing not to go on television,” he said, but he did remember the DA asking him to "please" stop talking at some points.

Asked if he wanted to see Trump convicted, Cohen answered, "Sure."

Blanche's questioning hopped around between different topics and timeframes, with several questions about Cohen's media appearances and different ways he's insulted Trump on his podcast and on social media, including whether he'd referred to Trump as a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain." Cohen, who was more disciplined about giving short answers than he was while testifying in Trump's civil fraud trial last year, acknowledged he probably had made those kinds of remarks and references.

Blanche noted that Cohen had previously been a staunch Trump supporter and had vowed to "take a bullet" for him. Cohen was asked if he was "obsessed" with Trump. “I admired him tremendously,” Cohen responded.

At another point, he said he'd previously been “knee deep into the cult of Donald Trump.”

Cohen also acknowledged that he's made $3.4 million over the past four years from two Trump-related books that he's written.

Trump appeared happy with Blanche's work after court, telling reporters "I think it was a very, very good day."

Cohen is the final witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the judge earlier in the day. Blanche told the judge it is unclear whether the defense will call any witnesses, including Trump. There's no court on Wednesday, so Cohen's cross-examination will resume on Thursday.

Cohen testified Tuesday that Trump had told him to work out how he would be reimbursed with Allen Weisselberg, then the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. He said Trump reiterated that position when he met with Cohen in the Oval Office in 2017. "Make sure you deal with Allen," Cohen quoted him as saying.

Cohen said that soon after he started receiving monthly $35,000 checks from Trump after he sent an invoice for "legal services rendered." Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked if he'd performed any legal services. "No, ma'am," Cohen answered.

"Was this invoice a false record?" she asked. "Yes, ma'am," he replied.

He said he did do some minor legal work for the Trumps in 2017, helping the attorney who was defending a defamation suit against Trump by former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos and reviewing an agreement allowing Madame Tussauds to make a wax figure of first lady Melania Trump. Cohen estimated he spent less than 10 hours doing legal work over the span of the entire year.

He said he did more work for Trump that was unpaid in 2018, after the Wall Street Journal reported that he'd made the hush money payment to Daniels. He also said he'd told Trump what he would say publicly at the time, which is that Trump was not involved with payment. Trump told him that was "good," Cohen said. Asked why he'd lied, he said, "in order to protect Mr. Trump."

When the Federal Election Commission asked Cohen about the payment, he issued a statement saying, "I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000" to Daniels. "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction" and "neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly."

Cohen said Trump had approved the statement ahead of time, and Cohen said it was both "true" and "misleading." “It was neither the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign. It was Donald J. Trump himself,” he said.

Cohen said while he wasn't getting money from Trump, he was cleaning up from his connection to the then-president, raking in over $4 million from consulting and legal work.

He said his fortunes began to change in April of 2018, when the FBI executed search warrants on his home and law office, taking his cell phones, tax records and other documents. He said he felt his life had been "turned upside down," and he felt "concerned, despondent, angry."

He said he reached out to Trump, who called him back and told him "don’t worry. I’m the president of the United States. There’s nothing here. Everything’s going to be OK. Stay tough. You’re going to be okay.”

Cohen said he felt "reassured." It was the last time he spoke directly with Trump.

Afterwards, Cohen said he was put in touch with Robert Costello, a veteran New York criminal lawyer who had been representing Rudy Giuliani, about possibly representing him. Costello said he'd spoken to Giuliani, who was close with Trump, and he should "sleep well tonight" because he has "friends in high places," Cohen said.

He said Costello wanted him to use him as his lawyer, but Cohen was concerned Costello would just relay information to Giuliani and Trump. He said he was feeling pressured by Costello not to cooperate with then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Cohen said he ultimately decided to cooperate and plead guilty to charges — including the Daniels payment — at the urging of his family, and called the day of the plea was "the worst day of my life."

He was ultimately sentenced to three years  in prison and disbarred as a result of the conviction. He said he's been supporting himself mainly with podcasts and his books.

Cohen is a pivotal witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against Trump. He told the jury during his first full day on the stand that Trump directly authorized him to pay Daniels the $130,000 and that Trump was involved in efforts to quash two other salacious stories that he feared could have damaged his candidacy.

"I was following his directions," Cohen testified.

Trump, meanwhile, had some high profile Republican supporters in attendance at Tuesday's proceedings, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Reps. Byron Donalds and Cory Mills of Florida, and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy and Burgum are considered potential vice presidential contenders for Trump.

Trump's son Eric Trump and his wife, Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, were in court as well.

Also Tuesday, a state appeals court denied Trump's challenge to Judge Juan Merchan's gag order barring him from attacking Cohen, Daniels, the judge's daughter, individual prosecutors and other witnesses. Trump and his allies have called the order "unconstitutional" and contended he should be able to speak freely since he's running for president. The panel of five Appellate Division judges disagreed.

"We find that Justice Merchan properly weighed petitioner’s First Amendment Rights against the court’s historical commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases, and the right of persons related or tangentially related to the criminal proceedings from being free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm," the ruling said.

Cohen is the only witness to directly tie Trump to the falsifying business records scheme.

Blanche told jurors in his opening statement that Cohen “cannot be trusted.”

“He’s a convicted felon. And he also is a convicted perjurer. He is an admitted liar,” Blanche said, referring in part to Cohen’s 2018 guilty plea to  making false statements to Congress  about a proposed project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Prosecutors said he’d lied to minimize Trump’s ties to Russia, which Congress and federal investigators were scrutinizing at the time.

Cohen testified Monday that Daniels’ claims of having had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 were extremely problematic because she began shopping her story after Trump’s campaign was already reeling from a scandal — the unearthing of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump is heard saying he can grope women without their consent.

Asked what kind of impact Daniels’ story could have had on Trump’s campaign at that point, Cohen said, “ Catastrophic .”

Trump has denied having had a sexual encounter with Daniels, who testified in great detail about her account last week.

Cohen, who started working for Trump in 2007, said that he fronted the money to pay Daniels through a shell company and that Trump had assured him he would pay him back.

Cohen said the particulars of the repayment were arranged by Weisselberg. The deal called for Cohen to be repaid the $130,000 and $50,000 more he’d previously laid out for Trump involving a tech company in payments that were “grossed up” — doubled — to cover Cohen’s taxes. The money, which included a $60,000 bonus, was then paid out in monthly $35,000 installments that were listed as being for legal services rendered under a retainer agreement.

Cohen testified that Trump approved the deal in a meeting with him and Weisselberg.

Weisselberg won’t be testifying — he’s in jail  after having pleaded guilty to perjury charges related to his testimony in last year’s civil fraud case against Trump and his company.

It’s unclear whether Trump , the only other person who could directly rebut Cohen’s claims, will testify. He said before the trial started he " absolutely " would but is under no obligation to do so.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records and has pleaded not guilty .

Prosecutors said in court Friday they anticipate wrapping up their case this week.

Adam Reiss is a reporter and producer for NBC and MSNBC.

Jillian Frankel is a 2024 NBC News campaign embed.

Gary Grumbach produces and reports for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C.

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.