Web of Science#Citation databases

A citation index is built on the fact that citations in science serve as linkages between similar research items, and lead to matching or related scientific literature, such as journal articles, conference proceedings, abstracts, etc. In addition, literature that shows the greatest impact in a particular field, or more than one discipline, can be located through a citation index. For example, a paper's influence can be determined by linking to all the papers that have cited it. In this way, current trends, patterns, and emerging fields of research can be assessed. Eugene Garfield, the "father of citation indexing of academic literature",Jacso, Peter. The impact of Eugene Garfield through the prism of Web of Science. Annals of Library and Information Studies, Vol. 57, September 2010, P. 222. [http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/10235/4/ALIS%2057%283%29%20222-247.pdf PDF] who launched the Science Citation Index, which in turn led to the Web of Science,Garfield, Eugene, Blaise Cronin, and Helen Barsky Atkins. The Web of Knowledge: A Festschrift in Honor of Eugene Garfield. Medford, N.J.: Information Today, 2000. wrote:

{{Blockquote|Citations are the formal, explicit linkages between papers that have particular points in common. A citation index is built around these linkages. It lists publications that have been cited and identifies the sources of the citations. Anyone conducting a literature search can find from one to dozens of additional papers on a subject just by knowing one that has been cited. And every paper that is found provides a list of new citations with which to continue the search.

The simplicity of citation indexing is one of its main strengths.Garfield, Garfield, Eugene. Citation indexing: Its theory and application in science, technology, and humanities. New York: Wiley, 1979, P. 1. [http://garfield.library.upenn.edu/ci/chapter1.PDF PDF]}}

Web of Science "is a unifying research tool which enables the user to acquire, analyze, and disseminate database information in a timely manner".{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Bæb thds̄xb kār kĥn phb wĕb k̄hxng withyāṣ̄ās̄tr̒ 2018 |script-title=th:แบบทดสอบการค้นพบเว็บของวิทยาศาสตร์ 2018 |trans-title=Web of Science Discovery Quiz 2018 |url=https://discover.clarivate.com/wosquizTH2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613141948/https://discover.clarivate.com/wosquizTH2018 |archive-date=2021-06-13 |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=Clarivate |language=en, th |quote="Web of Science pĕn kherụ̄̀xng mụ̄x wicạy bæb khrb wngcr thī̀ ch̀wy h̄ı̂ p̄hū̂ chı̂ s̄āmārt̄h rạb wikherāah̄̒ læa p̄hey phær̀ k̄ĥxmūl ṭ̄hān k̄ĥxmūl dị̂ thạn th̀wngthī." Web of Science เป็นเครื่องมือวิจัยแบบครบวงจรที่ช่วยให้ผู้ใช้สามารถรับ วิเคราะห์ และเผยแพร่ข้อมูลฐานข้อมูลได้ทันท่วงที. |trans-quote=Web of Science is a unifying research tool which enables the user to acquire, analyze, and disseminate database information in a timely manner.}} This is accomplished because of the creation of a common vocabulary, called ontology, for varied search terms and varied data. Moreover, search terms generate related information across categories.

Acceptable content for Web of Science is determined by an evaluation and selection process based on the following criteria: impact, influence, timeliness, peer review, and geographic representation.

Web of Science employs various search and analysis capabilities. First, citation indexing is employed, which is enhanced by the capability to search for results across disciplines. The influence, impact, history, and methodology of an idea can be followed from its first instance, notice, or referral to the present day. This technology points to a deficiency with the keyword-only method of searching.{{Cite web |title=Cited Reference Search |url=https://webofscience.help.clarivate.com/en-us/Content/cited-reference-search.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810073248/https://webofscience.help.clarivate.com/en-us/Content/cited-reference-search.htm |archive-date=2022-08-10 |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=Clarivate}}{{Cite web |title=Web of Science Core Collection Overview |url=https://webofscience.help.clarivate.com/Content/wos-core-collection/wos-core-collection.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404214530/https://webofscience.help.clarivate.com/Content/wos-core-collection/wos-core-collection.htm |archive-date=2023-04-04 |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=Clarivate}}

Second, subtle trends and patterns relevant to the literature or research of interest, become apparent. Broad trends indicate significant topics of the day, as well as the history relevant to both the work at hand, and particular areas of study.

Third, trends can be graphically represented.[https://web.archive.org/web/20101123014042/https://www.thomsonreuters.com/content/science/pdf/Web_of_Knowledge_factsheet.pdf Overview and Description]. ISI Web of Knowledge. Thomson Reuters. 2010. Accessed on 2010-06-24{{cite web |url=http://wokinfo.com/realfacts/qualityandquantity/ |title=Web of Knowledge > Real Facts > Quality and Quantity |access-date=2010-05-05}}

Expanding the coverage of Web of Science, in November 2009 Thomson Reuters introduced Century of Social Sciences. This service contains files which trace social science research back to the beginning of the 20th century,"Thomson Reuters introduces century of social sciences". Information Today 26.10 (2009): 10. General OneFile. Web. 23 June 2010. [http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A211794482&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=mlin_c_marlpl&version=1.0 Document URL].Thomson Reuters introduces century of social sciences." Computers in Libraries 29.10 (2009): 47. General OneFile. Internet. 23 June 2010. [http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A211236981&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=mlin_c_marlpl&version=1.0 Document URL] and Web of Science now has indexing coverage from the year 1900 to the present.{{Cite web |title =Overview – Web of Science |publisher=Thomson Reuters |year=2010 |url=http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/a-z/web_of_science |format=Overview of coverage gleaned from promotional language. |access-date=2010-06-23}}{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Sul H. |title =Citation Indexing and ISI's Web of Science |publisher=The University of Oklahoma Libraries |year=2010 |url=http://www.ou.edu/webhelp/librarydemos/isi/ |access-date=2010-06-23}} As of February 2017, the multidisciplinary coverage of the Web of Science encompasses: over a billion cited references, 90 million records, covering over 12 thousand high impact journals, and 8.2 million records across 160 thousand conference proceedings, with 15 thousand proceedings added each year.{{cite web |url=http://wokinfo.com/citationconnection/realfacts |title=Web of Knowledge – Real Facts – IP & Science – Thomson Reuters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224013916/http://wokinfo.com/citationconnection/realfacts |access-date=24 February 2017 |archive-date=2017-02-24}} The selection is made on the basis of impact evaluations and comprise academic journals, spanning multiple academic disciplines. The coverage includes: the sciences, social sciences, the arts, and humanities, and goes across disciplines. However, Web of Science does not index all journals.

There is a significant and positive correlation between the impact factor and CiteScore. However, an analysis by Elsevier, who created the journal evaluation metric CiteScore, has identified 216 journals from 70 publishers to be in the top 10 percent of the most-cited journals in their subject category based on the CiteScore while they did not have an impact factor.{{Cite web |last=Tucker |first=David |date=2017-07-25 |title=CiteScore highlights top-cited journals neglected by other metrics |url=https://www.elsevier.com/connect/citescore-highlights-top-cited-journals-neglected-by-other-metrics |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727183600/https://www.elsevier.com/connect/citescore-highlights-top-cited-journals-neglected-by-other-metrics |archive-date=2017-07-27 |access-date=2017-12-31 |website=Elsevier}} It appears that the impact factor does not provide comprehensive and unbiased coverage of high-quality journals. Similar results can be observed by comparing the impact factor with the SCImago Journal Rank.

Furthermore, as of September 2014, the total file count of the Web of Science was over 90 million records, which included over 800 million cited references, covering 5.3 thousand social science publications in 55 disciplines.{{Cite web |title=The Citation Connection - Real Facts - IP & Science |url=http://wokinfo.com/citationconnection/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924184254/http://wokinfo.com/citationconnection/ |archive-date=2014-09-24 |access-date=2014-09-03 |website=Thomson Reuters}}

Titles of foreign-language publications are translated into English and so cannot be found by searches in the original language.{{Cite web |title=Some Searching Conventions |publisher=President and Fellows of Harvard College |date=December 3, 2009 |url=http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/guides/citationindex/#some |access-date=2010-06-23 |archive-date=2011-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521161422/http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/guides/citationindex/#some |url-status=dead }}

In 2018, the Web of Science started embedding partial information about the open access status of works, using Unpaywall data.{{cite journal |first1=Holly |last1=Else |title=How Unpaywall is transforming open science |journal=Nature |date=2018-08-15 |pages=290–291 |volume=560 |issue=7718 |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-05968-3 |pmid=30111793 |bibcode=2018Natur.560..290E |doi-access=free}}

While marketed as a global point of reference, Scopus and WoS have been characterised as «structurally biased against research produced in non-Western countries, non-English language research, and research from the arts, humanities, and social sciences».{{cite journal|first1=Jonathan P.|last1=Tennant|title=Web of Science and Scopus are not global databases of knowledge|url=https://ese.arphahub.com/article/51987/|journal=European Science Editing|date=2020-10-27|issn=2518-3354|pages=e51987|volume=46|doi=10.3897/ese.2020.e51987|doi-access=free}}

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, on March 11, 2022, Clarivate – which owns Web of Science – announced that it would cease all commercial activity in Russia and immediately close an office there.{{Cite journal|title=Ukrainian researchers pressure journals to boycott Russian authors|first=Holly|last=Else|date=March 14, 2022|journal=Nature|volume=603|issue=7902|page=559|doi=10.1038/d41586-022-00718-y|pmid=35288680|bibcode=2022Natur.603..559E|s2cid=247452826|doi-access=free}}

Since 2008, the Web of Science hosts a number of regional citation indices:

• Chinese Science Citation Database, produced in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was the first indexing database in a language other than English{{Cite web |url=http://thomsonreuters.com/en/products-services/scholarly-scientific-research/scholarly-search-and-discovery/chinese-science-citation-database.html |title=Chinese Science Citation Database |access-date=Apr 17, 2021 |archive-date=December 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207094830/http://thomsonreuters.com/en/products-services/scholarly-scientific-research/scholarly-search-and-discovery/chinese-science-citation-database.html |url-status=dead }}
• SciELO Citation Index, established in 2013, covering Brazil, Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean and South Africa, and an additional 12 countries of Latin America{{Cite web |url=http://thomsonreuters.com/en/press-releases/2013/thomson-reuters-collaborates-with-scielo-to-showcase-emerging-research-centers-within-web-of-knowledge.html |title=Thomson Reuters Collaborates with SciELO to Showcase Emerging Research Centers within Web of Knowledge |access-date=Apr 17, 2021 |archive-date=September 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921194031/http://thomsonreuters.com/en/press-releases/2013/thomson-reuters-collaborates-with-scielo-to-showcase-emerging-research-centers-within-web-of-knowledge.html |url-status=dead }}
• Korea Citation Index in 2014, with updates from the National Research Foundation of Korea{{Cite web |url=http://thomsonreuters.com/en/press-releases/2014/tr-collaborates-with-national-research-foundation-of-korea.html |title=Thomson Reuters Collaborates with National Research Foundation of Korea to Showcase the Region's Research in Web of Science |access-date=Apr 17, 2021 |archive-date=July 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704230624/http://thomsonreuters.com/en/press-releases/2014/tr-collaborates-with-national-research-foundation-of-korea.html |url-status=dead }}
• Russian Science Citation Index in 2015{{cite web|url=http://wokinfo.com/products_tools/multidisciplinary/rsci/ |title=RSCI - IP & Science - Thomson Reuters |first=Thomson |last=((Reuters)) |access-date=10 December 2016}}
• Arabic Regional Citation Index in 2020{{Cite web |url=https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/solutions/arabic-citation-index/ |title=Arabic Citation Index |access-date=Apr 17, 2021}}

The seven citation indices listed above contain references which have been cited by other articles. One may use them to undertake cited reference search, that is, locating articles that cite an earlier, or current publication. One may search citation databases by topic, by author, by source title, and by location. Two chemistry databases, Index Chemicus and Current Chemical Reactions allow for the creation of structure drawings, thus enabling users to locate chemical compounds and reactions.

The following types of literature are indexed: scholarly books, peer reviewed journals, original research articles, reviews, editorials, chronologies, abstracts, as well as other items. Disciplines included in this index are agriculture, biological sciences, engineering, medical and life sciences, physical and chemical sciences, anthropology, law, library sciences, architecture, dance, music, film, and theater. Seven citation databases encompasses coverage of the above disciplines.

{{Cite web |title=Coverage - Web of Science |publisher=Thomson Reuters |year=2010 |url=http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/a-z/web_of_science |access-date=2010-06-23}}

Among other WoS databases are BIOSIS and The Zoological Record, an electronic index of zoological literature that also serves as the unofficial register of scientific names in zoology.

Clarivate owns and markets numerous other products that provide data and analytics, workflow tools, and professional services to researchers, universities, research institutions, and other organizations, such as:{{Cite web|url=https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/|title=World's largest publisher-neutral citation index and research intelligence platform|website=Web of Science Group}}

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• InCites
• Journal Citation Reports
• Essential Science Indicators
• ScholarOne
• Converis

{{further|Citation analysis| San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment}}

{{see also|Impact factor#Criticism}}

As with other scientific approaches, scientometrics and bibliometrics have their own limitations. In 2010, a criticism was voiced pointing toward certain deficiencies of the journal impact factor calculation process, based on Thomson Reuters Web of Science, such as: journal citation distributions usually are highly skewed towards established journals; journal impact factor properties are field-specific and can be easily manipulated by editors, or even by changing the editorial policies; this makes the entire process essentially non-transparent.{{Cite web |url=http://am.ascb.org/dora/ |title=San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment: Putting science into the assessment of research, December 16, 2012 |access-date=June 14, 2013 |archive-date=January 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160102023825/http://am.ascb.org/dora/ |url-status=dead }}

Regarding the more objective journal metrics, there is a growing view that for greater accuracy it must be supplemented with article-level metrics and peer-review. Studies of methodological quality and reliability have found that "reliability of published research works in several fields may be decreasing with increasing journal rank".{{cite journal |last1=Brembs|first1=Björn|title=Prestigious Science Journals Struggle to Reach Even Average Reliability |journal=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |volume=12 |page=37 |year=2018 |pmid=29515380 |pmc=5826185 |doi=10.3389/fnhum.2018.00037 |doi-access=free}} Thomson Reuters replied to criticism in general terms by stating that "no one metric can fully capture the complex contributions scholars make to their disciplines, and many forms of scholarly achievement should be considered."{{Cite web |title=Thomson Reuters Statement Regarding the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment |url=http://researchanalytics.thomsonreuters.com/statement_re_sfdra/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312073130/http://researchanalytics.thomsonreuters.com/statement_re_sfdra/ |archive-date=2017-03-12 |access-date=2013-06-14 |website=Thomson Reuters}}

{{excerpt|Journal Citation Reports}}

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• arXiv
• CiteSeerX
• CSA databases
• Dialog (online database)
• Energy Citations Database
• Energy Science and Technology Database
• ETDEWEB
• Google Scholar
• h-index
• Indian Citation Index
• J-Gate
• List of academic journal search engines
• Materials Science Citation Index
• PASCAL database
• PubMed Central
• Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale
• ResearchGate
• Serbian Citation Index
• VINITI Database RAS{{div col end}}

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• {{official website}}

• {{Cite book |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.1201/9781315155890/research-analytics-francisco-cantu-ortiz |title=Research Analytics: Boosting University Productivity and Competitiveness through Scientometrics |date=2017-10-25 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-315-15589-0 |editor-last=Cantú-Ortiz |editor-first=Francisco Javier |edition=1st |location=New York City |pages=15–30 |language=en |chapter=2. Web of Science: The First Citation Index for Data Analytics and Scientometrics |doi=10.1201/9781315155890}}

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Category:Bibliographic databases and indexes

Category:Online databases

Category:Clarivate