Kuala lumpur: The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) will expand the adoption of Scopus AI technology across all 20 public universities to boost the publication of high-impact research articles indexed by leading international databases such as the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus. Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Sakmud announced this initiative, emphasizing its potential to accelerate the research process and enhance its impact at the national level.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Scopus AI, developed by Elsevier, signifies a significant innovation aimed at strengthening the global research ecosystem. The tool is designed to enhance researchers' capabilities by accelerating information retrieval, streamlining literature analysis, and offering strategic insights to guide academic publications. Malaysia is notably the first country in the Asia Pacific region to subscribe to Scopus AI for use across its public universities.
Mustapa Sakmud highlighted that researchers would have the opportunity to explore best practices and use cases from leading universities in Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. This exposure is expected to provide valuable insights that can be applied within their respective fields of study. The announcement was made at the launch of the National Scopus AI and Elsevier-Research Impact Summit 2025, which was attended by prominent figures such as Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) vice-chancellor Prof Dr Arham Abdullah and Elsevier Asia Pacific vice-president for Research, Intelligence and Engineering Jessica Low.
The minister noted that artificial intelligence enables researchers to analyze scholarly works, identify emerging trends, and drive innovation with greater accuracy. He stressed that adopting such technology is not merely a technological advancement, but a step towards strengthening the nation's intellectual capital. Elsevier, the developer of Scopus AI, is a global publishing and analytics company headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, renowned for publishing numerous scientific journals and book titles worldwide.
With its natural language search capabilities, Scopus AI allows researchers to pose questions directly and receive concise, relevant answers, significantly reducing the time needed to sift through vast amounts of academic articles. Scopus AI also offers research trend analysis, recommendations for international collaboration, and academic impact mapping, with primary users including researchers, lecturers, postgraduate students, university administrators, academic librarians, and industry players.
Mustapa Sakmud explained that the journal recommendation and publication analysis functions in Scopus AI serve as valuable tools for guiding researchers to submit their work to high-impact journals, increasing publication opportunities and enhancing the international reputation of researchers and their institutions. The Research Impact Summit 2025, themed 'From Theory to Practice: Bridging the Gap Between Academic Evaluation and Real-World Impact', serves as a platform for cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange, the formulation of new strategies, and the application of data-driven tools to strengthen Malaysia's research ecosystem.