Using Web of Science

Web of Science

• Web of Science is a single platform that allows you to search a wide collection of databases in a single search. It covers journal articles published in health sciences, physical and life sciences, social sciences, and arts & humanities.
• It is a great database to use for topics that cover multiple disciplines.
• Web of Science has unique features that make it an important tool for measuring, evaluating, and tracking scientific research.

Find Web of Science like you would any other database through SMCM Library, by searching for it in OneSearch, or clicking the A-Z Database tab on the front page!

You will automatically be in the basic Search function of Web of Science. Add your search terms to the search box. You can use the left-side pulldown menus to select where Web of Science should search for your word, such as Topic, Title, etc. You can also select a date range for the database to search. 

Here’s an example of a search on "cognitive behavioral therapy":

You can add rows and use the pull down menu to choose which Boolean operator (AND, OR, NOT) you want to use to continue your search. In this example, I added a row to search for "cognitive behavioral therapy" AND anxiety.

On the Results page, you can browse through the results and refine them by applying limits such as publication year, language, subject, document type:

Web of Science can also be used to find references that cite a particular author or journal article. This is called a cited reference search. 

To conduct a cited reference search, click on the Cited References tab. Fill in the Cited Reference Form with the author name and title of the work, journal abbreviation, or date of publication. Then, click Search. 

This search only one result, but if there are multiple, you will need to select the citation that matches the article you need and click on See Results. The results page will show all of the citations (since 1975) that have cited this particular work.

Web of Science offers many full text articles through different publishers, open access resources, and through other databases St. Mary’s subscribes to. However, if you ever come across something you don’t have full access to, just click the Find It button.

This button will take you to the OneSearch results for the article through the library’s website. From there, you’ll have a number of options to choose from to access the article. 

If for any reason the library does not have access to the article you’re trying to find, a link should pop-up directing you to request the article through interlibrary loan.

If you have more questions about interlibrary loan, check out this page!