The main academic search systems of lusophone systematic reviews in Communication and Information
an endogenous systemic invisibility?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5380/atoz.v14.93993Keywords:
Systematic literature review, Methodology, Academic Search Systems, Information, CommunicationAbstract
Introduction: Problems and limitations arising from the political economy underlying academic search systems demonstrate the need for a critical assessment of the main systems used for conducting systematic literature reviews in each field of knowledge. In light of this, the objective of this study is to conduct a state of art analysis of Lusophone systematic literature reviews in the field of Communication and Information, identifying their main characteristics. Methodology: An systematic literature review was conducted using four academic search systems (Web of Science, Scopus, Directory of Open Access Journals and Scientific Eletronic Library Online) with a temporal limitation (2010-2021). After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 49 works were selected and analyzed. The analysis underwent reliability tests and aimed to identify the temporal distribution of publications, as well as the most prolific academic search systems, journals, and production centers. Results:The results revealed that the most used academic search system, the WoS (Web of Science), confers low visibility to the area under study. Conclusion: These results suggest a kind of self-produced invisibility of Lusophone intellectual production in the field of Communication and Information, which, by favoring a search system in which its production is not highlighted, contributes to its own invisibility. We discuss the resulting problems and strategies for systematic literature reviews capable of strengthening the scientific production of Communication and Information.
References
Albuquerque, A. de, Oliveira, T. M. de, Santos Junior, M. A., & Albuquerque, S. O. F. de. (2020). Structural limits to the de-westernization of the communication field: The editorial board in Clarivate’s JCR System. Communication, Culture & Critique, 13(2), 185-203. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcaa015
Albuquerque, A. de, & Oliveira, T. de. (2021). Pensando o recolonial nos estudos da Comunicação: reflexões a partir da América Latina. Comunicação, Mídia e Consumo, 18(51), 82-102. https://doi.org/10.18568/cmc.v18i51.2521
Alperín, J. P., & Fishman, G. (2015). Hecho en Latinoamérica: acceso abierto, revistas académicas e innovaciones regionales. CLACSO.
Aromataris, E., & Pearson, A. (2014). The systematic review: An overview. AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 114(3), 53-58. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000444496.24228.2c
Boshoff, N., & Akanmu, M. A. (2017). Scopus or Web of Science for a bibliometric profile of pharmacy research at a Nigerian university? South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science, 83(2), 12-22. https://doi.org/10.7553/83-2-1682
Cash-Gibson, L., Rojas-Gualdrón, D. F., Pericàs, J. M., & Benach, J. (2018). Inequalities in global health inequalities research: A 50-year bibliometric analysis (1966-2015). PLOS ONE, 13(1), e0191901. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191901
Chavarro, D., Ràfols, I., & Tang, P. (2018). To what extent is inclusion in the Web of Science an indicator of journal ‘quality’? Research evaluation, 27(2), 106-118. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3321197
Cochrane, L., & Legault, D. D. (2020). The rush for land and agricultural investment in Ethiopia: What we know and what we are missing. Land, 9(5), 167. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9050167
Cooper, H. (2015). Research synthesis and meta-analysis: A step-by-step approach. Sage publications.
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior. (2017). Tabela das Áreas de Avaliação. CAPES. https://www.gov.br/capes/pt-br/centrais-de-conteudo/TabelaAreasConhecimento_072012_atualizada_2017_v2.pdf
Costas, R., & Franssen, T. (2018). Reflections around ‘the cautionary use’ of the h-index: Response to Teixeira da Silva and Dobránszki. Scientometrics, 115, 1125-1130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-018-2683-0
Freelon, D. (2010). ReCal: Intercoder reliability calculation as a web service. International Journal of Internet Science, 5(1), 20-33.
Gusenbauer, M., & Haddaway, N. R. (2020). Which academic search systems are suitable for systematic reviews or meta-analyses? Evaluating retrieval qualities of Google Scholar, PubMed, and 26 other resources. Research Synthesis Methods, 11(2), 181-217. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1378
Harris, J. D., Quatman, C. E., Manring, M. M., Siston, R. A., & Flanigan, D. C. (2014). How to write a systematic review. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 42(11), 2761-2768. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546513497567
Jacsó, P. (2010). Metadata mega mess in Google Scholar. Online Information Review, 34(1), 175-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684521011024191
Kousha, K., & Thelwall, M. (2007). Google Scholar citations and Google Web/URL citations: A multi-discipline exploratory analysis. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(7), 10551065. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20584
Lycarião, D., Roque, R., & Costa, D. (2023). Revisão sistemática de literatura e análise de conteúdo na área da Comunicação e Informação: O problema da confiabilidade e como resolvê-lo. Transinformação, 35, e220027. https://doi.org/10.1590/2318-0889202335e220027
Martín-Martín, A., Orduna-Malea, E., Thelwall, M., & López-Cózar, E. D. (2018). Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus: A systematic comparison of citations in 252 subject categories. Journal of Informetrics, 12(4), 1160-1177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2018.09.002
Melo, J. H. N. de, Trinca, T. P., & Maricato, J. de M. (2021). Limites dos indicadores bibliométricos de bases de dados internacionais para avaliação da Pós-Graduação brasileira: A cobertura da Web of Science nas diferentes áreas do conhecimento. Transinformação, 33, e200071. https://doi.org/10.1590/2318-0889202133e200071
Mongeon, P., & Paul-Hus, A. (2014). The journal coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: A comparative analysis. Scientometrics, 106(1), 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1765-5
Mugnaini, R., Noyons, E., & Packer, A. (2018). Fluxo de citações internacional: Fontes de informação para avaliação do impacto científico no Brasil. [Apresentação de trabalho]. 6º Encontro Brasileiro de Bibliometria e Cientometria. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Mugnaini, R., Damaceno, R. J. P., Digiampietri, L. A., & Mena-Chalco, J. P. (2019). Panorama da produção científica do Brasil além da indexação: Uma análise exploratória da comunicação em periódicos. Transinformação, 31, e190033. https://doi.org/10.1590/2318-0889201931e190033
North, M. A., Hastie, W. W., & Hoyer, L. (2020). Out of Africa: The underrepresentation of African authors in high-impact geoscience literature. Earth-Science Reviews, 208, 103262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103262
Oliveira, T., Marques, F. P. J., Leão, A. V., Albuquerque, A. de, Prado, J. L. A., Grohmann, R., Clinio, A., Cogo, D., & Guazina, L. S. (2021). Towards an inclusive agenda of open science for communication research: A Latin American approach. Journal of Communication, 71(5), 785-802. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqab025
Packer, A. L. (2021). O programa SciELO e o acesso aberto via dourada. In C. M. K. Peruzzo, M. de L. Martins, & R. Gabrioti (Eds.). Revistas científicas de comunicação ibero-americanas na política de divulgação do conhecimento. tendências, limitações e os desafios de novas estratégias (pp. 29-58). UMinho Editora. Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade. https://doi.org/10.21814/uminho.ed.43
Prins, A. A. M., Costas, R., Leeuwen, T. N. van, & Wouters, P. F. (2016). Using Google Scholar in research evaluation of humanities and social science programs: A comparison with Web of Science data. Research Evaluation, 25(3), 264-270. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvv049
Sampaio, R. C.; Lycarião, D. (2021). Análise de conteúdo categorial: manual de aplicação. Enap.
Santini, R. M., & Carvalho, H. (2019). Plataformas online de participação cidadã: Meta-síntese e avaliação crítica de seus impactos sociais e políticos. Comunicação e Sociedade, 36, 163-182. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338089152_Plataformas_online_de_participacao_cidada_meta-sintese_e_avaliacao_critica_de_seus_impactos_sociais_e_politicos
Silva, J. A. T. da, & Dobránszki, J. (2018). Multiple versions of the h-index: Cautionary use for formal academic purposes. Scientometrics, 115, 1107-1113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-018-2680-3
Singh, A. K., Singh, A., Singh, R., & Misra, A. (2021). Molnupiravir in COVID-19: A systematic review of literature. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, 15(6), 102329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2021.102329
Tennant, J. P. (2020). Web of Science and Scopus are not global databases of knowledge. European Science Editing, 46, e51987. https://doi.org/10.3897/ese.2020.e51987
Vessuri, H., Guédon, Jean-Claude, & Cetto, A. M. (2013). Excellence or quality? Impact of the current competition regime on science and scientific publishing in Latin America and its implications for development. Current sociology, 62(5), 647-665. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392113512839
Wagner, C. S., & Wong, S. K. (2012). Unseen science? Representation of BRICs in global science. Scientometrics, 90(3), 1001-1013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-011-0481-z
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 AtoZ: novas práticas em informação e conhecimento

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Atoz is a open access journal and the authors have permission and are encouraged to deposit their papers in personal web pages, institutional repositories or portals before (pre-print) or after (post-print) the publication at AtoZ. It is just asked, when and where possible, the mention, as a bibliographic reference (including the atributted URL), to the AtoZ Journal.
The authors license the AtoZ for the solely purpose of disseminate the published work (peer reviewed version/post-print) in aggregation, curation and indexing systems.
The AtoZ is a Diadorim/IBICT green academic journal.
All the journal content (including instructions, editorial policies and templates) - except where otherwise indicated - is under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, since October 2020.
When published by this journal, articles are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any support or format for any purpose, even commercial) and adapt (remix, transform, and create from the material for any purpose , even if commercial). You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made
AtoZ does not apply any charges regarding manuscripts submission/processing and papers publication.
























