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Web of Science (AKA Web of Knowledge), a users' guide

A guide to help you use the Web of Knowledge database

Steps for Cited Reference Searching

What is Cited Reference Searching?

Cited reference searching allows you to see who cited a published book or article. Looking at footnotes, you can follow research backwards in time to see what sources your article used. Cited reference searching allows you to take research forwards by seeing who else cited the article you are using. You can look at the other citations those articles used and build a web of citations and sources useful for your research.

  • Type in the author's name following the General Tips guideslines
  • Select the citation index you want to search (Arts & Humanities; Science; and/or Social Sciences)
  • Select the citation years you want to search
    • Limit to possible years to avoid irrelevant results
  • Select the records you want from each page
    • Look for typos
    • Watch for inverted titles
    • Check all the ways the author's name could be entered
  • Click FINISH SEARCH
  • Choose your sort options
  • Possible ways to Analyze Results
    • Who cites this person the most?
    • Which journal cites this person the most?