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Web of Science: Home

A guide to using Web of Science, a large multidisciplinary platform for searching a number of citation indices.

What is Web of Science?

Web of Science is an online platform for searching a number of different citation indices. The focus of this guide, the Web of Science Core Collection, is a large interdisciplinary citation database that includes citations from the following sources:

  • Science Citation Index Expanded
  • Social Sciences Citation Index
  • Arts & Humanities Citation Index
  • Emerging Sources Citation Index
  • Book Citation Index
  • Conference Proceedings Citation Index
  • Current Chemical Reactions

The Web of Science Core Collection includes over 22,000 peer-reviewed journals, over 314,000 conferences, and over 157,000 books.

Web of Science, like Scopus and Google Scholar, is a large and cross-disciplinary citation database. These types of databases connect citations to their references, as well as citing articles that come later. Most citation indices also measure bibliometrics, a set of methods to quantitatively analyze academic literature (e.g. impact factor, h-index).

Why Use Web of Science?

Web of Science enables you to find newer papers that reference a paper or author you already know about. You might want to do this in order to:

  • find more papers on a topic
  • trace how an idea has been confirmed, applied, extended or corrected in later publications
  • see which other researchers are citing your work or the work of your colleagues
  • find citation numbers and metrics to report on job or grant applications, evaluations, etc.

Three major databases allow for this type of interdisciplinary citation searching: Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and Google Scholar. Since these databases vary in what they cover, their search features, and their citation analysis tools, the best database to choose depends on your personal preferences and your needs.

Comparison

Content

> 22,619 journals

> 157,000 books

> 314,000 conferences

Coverage

1900 to present, coverage varies by title

Specialty Areas

Life sciences, biomedical sciences, engineering, social sciences, arts & humanities. Strongest coverage of natural sciences, health sciences, engineering, computer science, materials sciences.

Access

Open to Mount Sinai users via the Levy Library.

Source: Web of Science Coverage Details

Content

> 26,591 journals

> 192 trade publications

> 1,167 book series

> 148,500 conferences

Coverage

1996 to present for majority of content. Remaining content dates back further, as far back as the 1780s in some cases.

Specialty Areas

Health sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences.

Access

Open to Mount Sinai users via the Levy Library.

Source: Scopus Content Coverage Guide

Content

Google Scholar indexes individual documents, not journals. Documents include journal papers, conference papers, technical reports, dissertations, pre-prints, post-prints, and abstracts. 

Coverage

Not specified.

Specialty Areas

Not specified.

Access

Available to anyone.

Source: Google Scholar