Jinfo Reviews Web of Science - Curated Research Content
Jinfo Blog

By Catherine Dhanjal

Abstract

In our in-depth product review of Web of Science, we look at how this citation index database for researchers in science, social science, arts and humanities has evolved and how they can make best use of its 1 billion cited references.

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Carrying out in-depth research in academic and multidisciplinary scientific fields can be a time-consuming process. So we were interested to review Web of Science from Thomson Reuters, claiming to be "the world's leading source of scholarly research data" and offering access to over 1 billion cited references from over 200 million different source items.

Our Product Review of Web of Science is now online.

We were particularly keen to test out areas of the citation index database such as:

• Depth of the backfiles
• Standards used to evaluate, select and curate content
• Subject-specific and regional research 
• Identification of emerging trends. 

Reviewer Sophie Alexander put Web of Science through a thorough analysis and testing process, noting that there have been a number of enhancements and additions since we last reviewed it in 2009, including the addition of two notable citation indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and Russian Sciences Citation Index. 

Discover Curated Research Sources

Web of Science is used by researchers as a discovery tool, to track and research citations across time or content types, and to identify collaborators with influence. They could also use it to see who is being cited or to obtain citation statistics to use to support grant and funding applications. 

Sophie explains, "It allows you to search across data, books, journals and patents from a single platform, helping you to find, analyse and share the most relevant information in science, social science, arts and humanities."

Customers in (mainly) scholarly institutions from Europe to China, North America and Russia use Web of Science and emerging markets are a growth area. 

Find Out More

For the full review, including information on the differences between Web of Science and competitors Scopus and Google Scholar, read the full Product Review of Web of Science.

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