A Critique of Scopus-Centrism in Philippine Universities and Educational and/or Research Agencies: Why Filipinos Should Write Research in Filipino

Abstract

Scopus is a corporate-owned database of selected journals which is considered high-quality/top-caliber by many university administrators and professors. It is owned by the Netherlands-based company Elsevier, and among the typical bases of metrics used in global university rankings. As a result, Scopus-centrism persists in the policies of Philippine universities and Philippine educational and/or research agencies. In view of this, this paper is aimed at fulfilling the following objectives: (1) present a critical introduction on Scopus and similar systems of abstract and citation databases; (2) describe the dominance of Scopus-centrism among public agencies and universities in the Philippines; (3) present a critique of Scopus-centrism in the Philippines; and (4) discuss some alternatives to Scopus-centrism. In general, this is an iteration of Ramon Guillermo’s earlier study on the Institute for Scientific Information or ISI, published by the journal Asian Studies in 2000.