Publisher interest in citations: An analysis of Scopus database

Publisher interest in citation to journal articles is an important variable that affect scholarly communication. The focus of citation studies is often on individual journal titles and Journal Impact Factors. The present study analyses the citation related data in the context of publishers represented in Scopus for the years 2016-2018. The results indicate a significant skewness in citations per document for 25 major publishers. Science academies and society publications, along with those publishers with fewer journals represented in Scopus, seem to be on the losing end in harnessing citation impact. Analysis points to the possible influence of publisher branding in the context of citation impact.