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Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection

Describes how to access and to search the Web of Science (WOS) database.

Working with Search Results

After a search is run, WOS will display a list of records. The total number of records will appear near the top of the screen. To view any record, click on the title.

Screen shot of complete record for one citation in WOS

Among other things, records will show the article title, author(s), publication name, document information, an abstract, keywords, cited references, times cited, funding information if appropriate, a link to the journal impact for the publication, and links to the full text of the article.

Cited References refers to the author's bibliography, and lists the earlier articles which the author used. Times Cited refers to later citations of this article in other articles, by other authors building on this work.

You may refine your results (with filters) to further focus your results (e.g. by broad subject categories, publication dates, document types, open access availability, authors/organizations, funding agencies, etc.).

One of the most useful filters is Document Type. Because scholars cite a multitude of sources in the scholarly literature (e.g. articles, meeting abstracts, conference proceedings, book chapters, letters, reviews, etc.), this filter can help you narrow your results.

Search filters menu, with Document Type - Article highlighted.

 

You may sort your results by publication date, times cited, usage count, relevance, first author, source title, etc. to more quickly identify citations of interest. 

Sort options pull down menu

Click on the Analyze Results button to rank your results by specific parameters, such as disciplines, publication years, authors, etc. This feature can help you identify trends or gaps in areas of research.  

Exporting Records

You can export records from WOS to citation management software, such as EndNote. Look for the Export button/link on full records, or select individual records to a marked list, and export that list.

Web of Science export options on a pull-down menu

 

Web of Science export RIS selection

Last Updated: Nov 13, 2024 1:18 PM