Publication Trends and Overlapping Subject-Area Classifications in Scopus: Evidence from Business, Management and Accounting

Large bibliographic databases require careful interpretation because publication trends and subject-area counts are shaped by database coverage, document-type selection, and classification practices. This study examines longitudinal changes in articles and reviews indexed in Scopus between 2010 and 2025, focusing on total Scopus-indexed output, the Business, Management and Accounting (BMA) category, and source-derived subject-area classification multiplicity. A longitudinal bibliometric design combined annual publication counts, growth rates, comparisons between the 2010–2021 baseline and the 2022–2025 recent observation window, exploratory segmented trend models, and the Subject-Area Multiplicity Ratio (SAMR). The SAMR was calculated as the annual sum of source-derived Scopus ASJC subject-area counts divided by the number of unique indexed articles and reviews. It is used as a descriptive ratio of classification multiplicity, not as a measure of article-level interdisciplinarity. The results show sustained but heterogeneous growth across subject areas. BMA recorded comparatively stronger growth during 2022–2025, whereas total Scopus-indexed output did not display a generalized discontinuity after 2022. Generative AI is treated only as contextual background, not as an explanatory factor. The SAMR increased from 1.654 in 2010 to 1.819 in 2025, indicating that summed subject-area counts increasingly exceeded unique-document totals. These findings support cautious interpretation of longitudinal bibliometric indicators in research assessment contexts.