Database Guide
Web of Science (aka Web of Knowledge)
Contents:
Introduction

Like traditional indexes, the Web of Science Citation Database may be used to locate articles, reports, books and book reviews and may be searched by subjects terms (topic searching), author (person searching), institution, or geographical area.

The most unique advantage of a citation database, however, is the ability to link to the list of references used in preparation of the book or article.  The Web of Science Database provides a mechanism by which you may search for these references as well (Cited Reference Searching).

 

Main Menu Options:

General Search: Search by topic, author, journal, or address
Cited Reference Search: Search for articles that cite an author or work
Advanced Search: Search using complex queries including field tags and set combinations

Database availability and Time span

The Library provides access to the following database:

  • Science Citation Index Expanded -- indexes nearly 6000 core journals in science and technology, plus book and other reviews, editorials, letters and biographical material

The time span of the database coverage at CSM is 1980 to present (search default is all years)
Search Features

Boolean Features Allowed:

and limits search; results must contain all search terms
or expands search; results contain at least one of terms
not excludes a particular term
same searches for terms within the same sentence

 

Truncation allowed (wildcards):

? or $ single character replacement within or at end of word
* multiple character replacement within or at end of word

 
General Search

General search allows you to retrieve a set of citations by searching on a topic, by an author, journal (source) title, or an institution (address or author's affiliation). The search form displays separate boxes in which to enter the above separately or in any combination the searcher requires.

 

Topic Search

Enter one or more terms or phrases, utilizing Boolean or proximity commands as needed.  You can also limit your search to topics only in the title.
Author Search

Enter the name of the cited author. 

Use the last name first, followed by initials

  •   For example: edison ta

If you are unsure of one or both of the initials, use the wildcard *

  •   For example: edison t* will retrieve edison t, edison ta, edison tb etc.

To ensure comprehensive results, names containing punctuation, hyphens and articles should be entered all possible ways:

  •   For example: o'brian OR obrian de la rosa OR delarosa
Source Title Search

Journal (source) title abbreviations may be obtained by clicking on the hot link "list" on the source title line. You may mark the abbreviated title and "copy" (Ctrl +C) the authorized abbreviation, then "paste" (Ctrl + V) the title in the search form box. (Using full titles will retrieve considerably fewer citations.)

Address Search

To efficiently search for most institutions or geographic areas, you will need to look up the authorized abbreviations used in this database. Click on the "abbreviations list" hot link. The list is organized alphabetically. Look up each word that makes up an institution's name and use the appropriate abbreviation given. If a word is not included in the list, then you should use the complete word.

  •   For example: University of South Florida --> univ s florida

The pull-down menus, at the bottom of the search screen, allow you to further limit your search query by language and document type.

 
Cited Reference Search

Use this search form when you want to retrieve a list of articles that cite a particular publication or author. The search form displays separate boxes in which to enter the above separately or in any combination the searcher requires.

Cited Author

Enter the name of the cited author. 

Use the last name first, followed by initials

  •   For example: edison ta

If you are unsure of one or both of the initials, use the wildcard *

  •   For example: edison t* will retrieve edison t, edison ta, edison tb etc.

To ensure comprehensive results, names containing punctuation, hyphens and articles should be entered all possible ways:

  •   For example: o'brian OR obrian de la rosa OR delarosa
Cited Work

Enter the abbreviated journal/book title in which the work appeared, a patent number, or another work. Refer to the Thomson ISI list of Journal Abbreviations to find the journal's abbreviated title.  The journal abbreviation list is in alphabetical order.

  • For example: for the journal: "Health Promotion International," copy (Ctrl +C) and paste (Ctrl + V) the abbreviated title: "Health Promot Int"
Cited Years

Enter year, or range of years, the cited work was published.

  • For example: 2000 or 2001-2002

 
Advanced Search

Use this search method when you are an experienced searcher, comfortable construting search sentences using Charater Tags (listed below) and Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, SAME).  Nest terms using parentheses ( ).

Character Tags
TS =Topic
TI =Title
AU =Author
GP =Group Author
SO =Source
AD =Address
OG =Organization
SG =Suborganization
SA =Street Address
CI =City
PS =Province/State
CU =Country
ZP =Zip/Postal Code

The Web of Science provides three Search Aids to assist with your search:

  • Author Index
  • Group Author Index
  • Full Source Title List

You may restrict your search by language or document type.  The Web of Science Database will also record your search history and enable you to combine searches by AND-ing or OR-ing them together. 

Search Results and Citation Records

General Search
The results retrieved are listed in reverse chronological order (most recent first). The number of total items retrieved is indicated at the bottom of the screen. Click on the highlighted title to go to the full record. Click on the "Summary" button to return to the list of results. 

Full Record
The full record includes the complete citation, identifies article type and language, abstract, authors' affiliations and other information. There may be three hot links on the record:

Cited References

Click on this to retrieve a list of the references used in this article. If a complete record exists in the database for any of these references, it will also be a "hot link". To return to the "parent" record, click on the title of the original record at the top of the screen.

Times Cited

Click here to retrieve a list of all the articles that have cited the original record. Click on an individual title to retrieve its full record. Use the Browser Back button to return to the original record.

Related Records

This retrieves a list of articles whose cited reference list includes one or more of the "Cited Reference" sources listed by the parent or original article. Cited Reference Search The search performed is listed at the top of the screen with the total number of hits retrieved. The list of the results and its arrangement depends on how much information was used in the cited reference search. The results may be sorted by date or alphabetically by author or item title. If an author name displayed is not the primary author, the name is proceeded by an ellipse (...). The number of hits is equal to the number of times that each work has been cited by others. If the citation is highlighted, you may click on it and retrieve the full citation record for that item. (Click on Browser Back button to return to index).

Use the "GR Linker" icon to search for full-text availability.  Use the "Holdings" button to search for the journal in Catalyst.
Mark, Print and Save

There are three (3) ways to mark records:

  1. To mark a record from the Results Summary screen, click on the box to the left of the title.
  2. If all records are desired, click on the "Mark All" button at the top of the screen. After marking is complete, click on the "Submit" button to save marking.
  3. To mark from the Full Record screen, click on the "Mark" button as the top of the screen.

To print or save to a floppy disk or other media, click on the "Marked List" button. A new list will appear, displaying only the selected records.

Format to Print
Select the fields of information to print (bottom of the screen). Otherwise, the default is a brief citation format. Click on Format to print . Use the Browser print function (under "File") to preview and implement the print. Use the Browser back button to return to summary list.
Save to File
As above, select the fields and click on "Save to file."   A menu will appear where you may enter a storage location and file name, e.g. a:[filename].
For more help
  • Online help is available at any time by clicking on the "help" icon on the menu bar at the top of the screen or by clicking on highlighted labels such as on the search forms. 
  • Contact the Reference staff.
  • See our Database Search Tips for tips on conducting effective searches.
Additional resources
  • Select ISI HighlyCited.com from the drop-down menu at the top of the Web of Science page to access an invaluable tool to identify individuals, departments and laboratories that have made fundamental contributions to the advancement of science and technology in recent decades.