Skip to main content

Security report for scopus.com

Elsevier · Education · N/a

Partial score · DNS & email only

75/100

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

Elsevier's Scopus is a leading global abstract and citation database providing comprehensive access to peer-reviewed literature across multiple disciplines including science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and humanities. The platform targets researchers, academics, and institutions, offering subscription-based access to extensive research content and author profiling services. The website demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure leveraging modern technologies such as React and advanced monitoring tools like New Relic and Adobe Launch, ensuring a performant and responsive user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, although some security headers and explicit cookie consent mechanisms could be improved. The absence of publicly available WHOIS data suggests privacy protection, which is justified given the enterprise nature of the business. Overall, the site reflects a professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained academic resource.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 100 · Low
Checks completed
6of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

2 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching scopus.com

This scan found 14 issues across 5 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
47
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
78
After the cap
75

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Scopus operates as a subscription-based academic research platform under Elsevier, a major publishing company. It holds a dominant market position in academic indexing and citation analysis. The business model focuses on institutional and individual subscriptions, providing value through comprehensive research databases and analytics. The platform integrates with partner services such as Mendeley, Scival, and ORCID, enhancing its ecosystem. Growth is supported by continuous feature development and global reach. The lack of direct contact information on the site aligns with its enterprise focus, relying on institutional relationships. Strategic partnerships and advanced analytics capabilities position Scopus as a critical tool in academic research and publishing.

Security posture

The website exhibits a solid security foundation with HTTPS enabled and no evident exposure of sensitive data. Use of monitoring and analytics tools like New Relic and Adobe Launch indicates active performance and security oversight. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HSTS, and X-Frame-Options suggests room for enhancement. No public incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is available, which could be improved to increase transparency and trust. Cookie consent mechanisms are not clearly implemented, potentially impacting privacy compliance. Overall, the security posture is good but could benefit from additional best practices and public security documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations.
  2. Add explicit security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen security posture.
  3. Publish clear terms of service and security policy pages accessible from the main site.
  4. Provide public incident response contact information and consider establishing a vulnerability disclosure program.
  5. Enhance WHOIS transparency if possible or provide official domain registration details on the corporate site.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Elsevier
Description
Elsevier’s Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Search and access research from the science, technology, medicine, social sciences and arts and humanities fields.
Key services
Abstract and citation database, Research access, Author profiling, Affiliation profiling
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React 18.3.1, jQuery, jQuery UI, New Relic Browser Agent, Adobe Launch (Adobe DTM), Pendo, Micro-UI architecture
Frameworks
React
Platforms
Web SPA
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security policy meta tags

Analytics and tracking

Services
New Relic Browser, Adobe Analytics (implied)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Adobe Audience Manager (demdex.net), Adobe Target (mboxedge37.tt.omtrdc.net)
Tracking pixels
New Relic, Pendo
Marketing tools
Adobe Launch, Pendo
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional academic research platform by Elsevier.
  2. Content is rich, well-structured, and targeted at researchers and institutions.
  3. Uses modern web technologies and monitoring tools.
  4. No signs of phishing, malware, or suspicious content.
  5. WHOIS data is not publicly available, likely due to privacy protection.
  6. No visible contact emails or phone numbers on the main page.
  7. Privacy policy is present and linked to Elsevier's domain.
  8. No explicit cookie consent banner detected.
  9. No visible terms of service or security policy pages found.
  10. No public incident response or vulnerability disclosure information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The site uses a modern SPA architecture built on React 18.3.1, supported by jQuery and jQuery UI for legacy components. Performance monitoring is robust with New Relic Browser and Adobe Launch integration. The site loads quickly and is mobile optimized with good accessibility features. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured data references. The use of micro-UI components and CDN-hosted assets indicates a scalable and maintainable infrastructure. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting details are not publicly available but the use of enterprise-grade monitoring and CDN services implies a reliable hosting environment.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with scopus.com. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review scopus.com.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.