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Web of Science

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bulletSearching for Works by a Specific Author
bulletIdentifying Articles that Cite a Known Article

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Searching for Works by a Specific Author

bullet Connect to Web of Science.
bulletSelect any desired limits (for Geology, you may want to limit to only the Science Citation Index), then choose "General Search."
bulletEnter the author's name in the relevant box.
bulletNotice the recommended format:  last name, space, first initial, asterisk.  Web of Science includes many references which do not spell out the author's first names.  It is important to follow the sample (ex:  clemens-knott d*).
bulletAlso note that you should try names with special characters such as apostrophes, hyphens, or spaces both with and without the special characters (e.g. try "O'Brian" as both "o'brian" and "obrian" in separate searches).
bulletGeneral Search Results--Summary screen:
bulletIncludes citations from the subscribed years that fit your search criteria.
bulletNumber of citations retrieved is listed both above and below the results list.
bulletClicking on a citation will retrieve article information, including a link to the references cited in the article and a link to any articles that have cited this one.
bullet"Find Related Records" will look for other articles with similar citation lists.
bulletTo find out if CSUF owns an article, click on the SFX icon:  SFX: Check for Full Text & More.
bulletPlease click "Logoff" to exit Web of Science since only three users may access the database at one time.

Identifying Articles that Cite a Known Article

bullet Connect to Web of Science.
bulletSelect any desired limits (for Geology, you may want to limit to only the Science Citation Index), then choose "Cited Ref Search."
bulletEnter the author's name in the relevant box.
bulletNotice the recommended format:  last name, space, first initial, asterisk.  Web of Science includes many references which do not spell out the author's first names.  It is important to follow the sample (ex:  carlson g*).
bulletAlso note that you should try names with special characters such as apostrophes, hyphens, or spaces both with and without the special characters (e.g. try "O'Brian" as both "o'brian" and "obrian" in separate searches).
bulletIf necessary, enter other information, such as the date of the article.  
bulletUse as little information as possible to bring up the relevant articles.  Web of Science uses extensive abbreviation in creating the cited reference lists.  The less information you use, the more likely you are to find the references you need.
bulletClick "SEARCH" and you will get a list of any matching citations (labeled:  "Cited Reference Index").  This list includes a box, the times cited, cited author, cited work, and the year, volume, and page of the cited work.
bulletClick on the appropriate boxes to mark any citations that match your target article.
bulletYou may find typos in the citation lists due to errors in the original citations or to errors in transcribing the citation.  Scientific citation formats often identify only the page that includes the referenced information, not the page range for the entire article.  Consider marking entries that are correct except for typos like inverted digits in the date and entries that reference a slightly different page number.
bulletThe frequency of errors is the reason we suggest that you use as little information as possible in your search strategy.
bulletClick "FINISH SEARCH" (at the bottom of the page) to find articles that cite your target article.  The results will be labeled "Search Results--Summary."
bulletYou may find that the selection list gave a total number of citations that was greater than the number of citations listed in the results summary.  This is because the results summary will only include results from the subscribed years (CSUF's subscription includes 1988 to current date only), while the selection list shows totals from all possible years (including those not included in the CSUF subscription).  If you need to trace an article prior to the years covered in our Web of Science subscription, please see the Science Citation Index print version.
bulletThe cited reference Search Results--Summary includes citations to articles in the database that have cited your target article and includes links to the records for those articles (generally including an abstract of the article).  To find out if CSUF owns an article, click on the SFX icon:  SFX: Check for Full Text & More.
bulletPlease click "Logoff" to exit Web of Science since only three users may access the database at one time.

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Prepared by Elizabeth Housewright and Barbie McConnell
An administrative page of the Paulina June & George Pollak Library at California State University, Fullerton.
(c) 2001 California State University, Fullerton. All rights reserved.
Last Updated: 04/30/07