Alissa V. Fial, MA, MLIS 
Head, Research, Teaching & Learning 
Associate Librarian 
Raynor Memorial Libraries 
Marquette University 

This is an update of a review published in the May 2021 issue of Doody’s Collection Development Monthly. You can find the original review here. 

Content 

ScienceDirect, available through Elsevier, was launched in 1997. It is an extensive bibliographic database covering broad areas of science, medicine, and humanities. Publications include research articles, book chapters, encyclopedias, conference information, correspondence, patents, software, and videos. The database contains over 19 million articles and chapters, over 2,650 peer-reviewed journals, and over 43,000 ebooks.¹ 

The content is divided into four main areas: physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities. The considerable content areas include 24 subcategories. A complete list of categories is available through ScienceDirect.¹ 

ScienceDirect is intended for a vast audience of students, scholars, librarians, and educators. It is meant to serve academic institutions, government agencies, and industry. ScienceDirect pulls its material from Elsevier products. As of October 2023, these include 4,803 journals and 34,683 books.² Open access continues to be available. A complete listing of content is available and searchable by journals, books, and collections.³ 

Since the last review, new content has been added regarding the total number of journals and books. There continues to be a focus on Open Access, highlighting several articles available via open access, and publication models for both journals and books as well as hybrid journals.  

Features/Functionality 

ScienceDirect enables basic and advanced searching of its content. These features have not changed since the last review.   

Like other databases, users can create an account and have continued access remotely via desktop/laptop or mobile/tablet. Searches can be saved with alerts and updates, including a journal table of contents. ScienceDirect strives to connect users to related content whenever possible. Based on recent searches, ScienceDirect will send users recommended articles and publications. While logged in, users will also have a reading history that displays articles or book chapters viewed. 

ScienceDirect continues to “aspire” to meet the guidelines set up for web accessibility content.⁴ As of December 2020, it supports or partially supports most of the criteria established via W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It supports almost all the criteria established under the US Section 508 Standards (Federal Rehabilitation Act). Since the last update, there have been positive shifts in compliance from “partial support” to “full support” or “does not support” to “now supports.” There are still no audio descriptions for prerecorded videos.⁵ 

Business Model 

Elsevier licenses ScienceDirect to academic institutions and organizations via an annual subscription. The costs continue to vary, with different purchasing options available. Authentication and access are set up via IP address with remote access options available via federated authentication (e.g., Shibbloleth, OpenAthens), VPN, proxy server, secure login via a library website, and registration via Elsevier. Individuals may use ScienceDirect and purchase articles or book chapters directly. 

Breakthrough 

ScienceDirect offers a depth and breadth of content available via Elsevier. The focus on open access is a positive direction; however, few changes have been made since this last review. Institutions with an interest in a database for content beyond STEM should consider ScienceDirect as a viable option. 

References: 

1. ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://www.sciencedirect.com/

2. Browse journals and books | ScienceDirect.com. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://www.sciencedirect.com/browse/journals-and-books 

3. Are there title lists for the content available on ScienceDirect? – ScienceDirect Support Center. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://service.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/13770/c/10547/supporthub/sciencedirect/kw/content+selectors/ 

4. Web Accessibility – ScienceDirect | Support | Elsevier. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/sciencedirect/librarian-resource-center/web-accessibility 

5. Gies, Ted. VPAT/ACR Voluntary Product Accessibility Template ScienceDirect. October 5, 2023. https://www.elsevier.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/253421/VPATScienceDirectAugust2022.pdf