WEB OF SCIENCE

 

Q: How do I save a search history in Web of Science?

A: First, perform a search in either the Search or Advanced Search mode. If you use Search, click the button for "Search History" to view your search statements. In the Advanced Search mode the Search History can be viewed by scrolling down. Click the "Save History/Create Alert" button to save the statements. You can either save the search history to your computer's hard drive, or to the ISI Web of Knowledge server, where it will be available each time you log into ISI Web of Knowledge. Please note that you must be signed in with your email address and password to save your history to the server.

Q: How many search statements may I save as a search history?

A: Users may save up to 20 search statements within each search history.

Q: Does Thomson Reuters display DOIs for Web of Science records?

A: Some electronic journals use digital object identifiers (DOIs) in place of, or sometimes in conjunction with, page numbers (PN) and article numbers (AN). The DOI will appear in the Full Record display, Cited Reference Index, Related Records, and Shared References. A Cited DOI will appear in the Cited Reference Index list if there is no Cited Page Number or Cited Article Number.

Q: What is Author Finder?

A: Author Finder is a tool that makes it easier to find papers written by a particular author. This is especially true for authors that have common names. Author Finder is accessed from Web of Science Search page by clicking on the link labeled “Author Finder.”

Q: How do I use Author Finder?

A: Author Finder is a four step process. After clicking on the Author Finder link:

  • Enter Author Name and Click Next
  • The following page will display name variants. You can select variants to increase or focus results.
  • Select a subject category for the author.
  • Select an institution for the author.

Please note that at any time during the four steps you can click the “Finish Now” button and be taken to the results set based on the criteria chosen.

Q: Why am I getting so many results that do not seem pertinent to my search when searching in the topic field?

A: The search syntax has been revised and the implied search operator has changed from ADJ (adjacency) to AND. Previously, a search on heart attack would have retrieved results with the phrase heart attack. Now, the result set will include all records that contain the words heart and attack anywhere in the record. If you want the result set to include the phrase heart attack, place the phrase in double quotes; “heart attack”. The change in the implied search operator will only effect the topic field and title searches.

Q: How will the implied AND search operator affect my saved searches and/or email alerts.

A: Your saved searches and email alerts will continue to work properly without any adjustments being made to the. If, however, you update your saved search, the saved search will have to follow the new rules.

Q: The implied AND search operator retrieves too many results. How can I narrow my result set?

A: You can search on a phrase by placing the term in double quotes as mentioned above. You can also run the search and then use our ‘Refine Your Results’ feature to narrow down the search results.

Q: Does Web of Science support Full Author Names?

A: We are currently only capturing full author names for newly indexed articles. Web of Science still requires that you search by last name and initial(s) and will not allow you to search by full author name. You can view full author names, if they exist, in 3 places: The Full Record Page, Record Output (Print, Save, Email) and Alerts. On the full record page, the full author name will appear in parenthesis next to the abbreviated author name. For emailed results, email alerts and saved text files, there will be a separate field for the full author name: 'AF' or 'Author Full Name' depending on the output format that you have selected.

Q: What is Citation Report?

A: Frequently Asked Questions for Citation Report can be found at: http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/support/faq/wok3new/citationreport

Q: What is the Distinct Author Identification System?

A: Frequently Asked Questions for the Distinct Author Identification System can be found at: http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/support/faq/wok3new/dais

Q: Is BibTeX supported for exporting results?

A: BibTeX (a tool for formatting lists of references) is an output option for users of LaTeX. A plain text file with a ".bib" extension, the BibTeX output option is available only for Web of Science articles (WoS Chem and non-WoS products do not get the BibTeX entry) from the Quick Output and Marked List Output options.

Q: What is the new Exclude functionality and where can it be used?

A: The Exclude feature allows you to remove unwanted records from the results set. Exclude functionality has been added to both the Analyze and Refine tools within ISI Web of Knowledge.