T H O M S O N S C I E N T I F I C

Citation IndexingISI Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports

Tracy Matthews

Thomson Scientific

Tracy.matthews@thomson.com

T H O M S O N S C I E N T I F I C

So, What is a Citation Index?

• In addition to standard bibliographic information a citation index includes the cited references of the items indexed.

• An author implies a subject relationship when he or she cites a work: – “the act of citing is an expression of the

importance of the material.”

• References serve to essentially replace a controlled vocabulary

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Things to Keep in Mind . . .

• Authors cite works both to support and to refute them. There are no codes in the ISI database to tell you why an item is cited.

• ISI Cited References are not an attempt to re-create a bibliography word for word. 1st listed author’s surname & up to 3 initials

• Abbreviated title of the cited work• Volume, starting page, and cited year.

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ISI Citation Indexes

• Bibliography entry:Wheatley A & Armstrong C. (1997). Metadata,

recall, and abstracts: can abstracts ever be reliable indicators of document value? ASLIB Proceedings 49 (8): 206-213.

• ISI Cited Reference:WHEATLEY A ASLIB PROC 49 206 1997

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Shepardizing• In 1953 Dr. Garfield learns of Shepard’s

Citations– Developed in 1873, the oldest major citation index in

existence

• American legal system is based on precedent– Shepard’s lists the citations to precedents used in

cases decided by the courts and federal administrative agencies

• Provides a model for how a citation index could be organized into an effective search tool

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Pilot Citation Indexes

• The multidisciplinary index provided several distinct advantages:– Illuminated the bounds of a particular

discipline– Insights into patterns of scholarly

communication and journal networks– Revealed the historical development of

scientific thought– Indicated the implications and impact of a

particular work

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ISI Citation Indexes

• ISI’s findings compelled them to create the Science Citation Index.

• The Social Sciences Index followed in 1973.

• The Arts & Humanities Index was introduced in 1978.

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Benefits of a Citation Index

• Allows searching forward in time. – Take a known paper and find out who is

citing it.• Classification terms in subject indexes can be

ambiguous. – Citations are bound to concepts instead of

vocabulary.

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Benefits of a Citation Index

• Multidisciplinary Citation Indices allow for serendipitous discovery– A subject-specific index might not have index

terms for each concept in a given article.

Ex. Space debris

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Uses of Citation Analysis

• Researcher evaluation– Use as a starting point in promotion and

tenure decisions.

• Competitive intelligence– Find out what competitors are publishing and

citing.

• Mapping relationships between subject areas– Bibliometric researchers determine

relationships between disciplines.

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Macro Citation Analysis

• JCR Impact Factor– How often is the typical article from a specific

journal cited? • Institutional Journal Use Analysis

– Selection, retention, archiving, and storage decisions

– Which journals are the faculty at your institution using the most?

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Publication SelectionPublication Selection

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Database Production and Extraction

ISI Database

Journal/Book acquisition

Item Selection and Data Capture

Manual Indexing/ Translation (for foreign language journals and some A&H content)

Processing Time 1-2 Weeks

Appearance of itemin ISI’s products

Scanning & OCR

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Document TypesAll FilesArticleBibliographyBiographical ItemBook ReviewCorrectionDatabase ReviewEditorial MaterialHardware ReviewLetterMeeting AbstractNews ItemReprintReviewSoftware Review

Arts & Humanities OnlyArt Exhibit ReviewDance Performance ReviewExcerptFiction Creative ProseFilm ReviewMusic Performance ReviewMusic ScoreMusic Score ReviewPoetryRecord ReviewScriptTheater ReviewTV ReviewRadio Review

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Journal CoverageJournal Coverage

Covered Journals

New Records Weekly

New Cited References

Weekly

Science Citation Index Expanded

6,034 18,800 431,000

Social Sciences Citation Index

1,764 2.600 59,100

Arts & Humanities Citation Index

1,121 2,100 15,900

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Full Bibliographic RecordAll author names are indexed and searchable. ISI indexes an author’s complete last name and up to five initials.

The complete abstract is indexed and searchable.

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Full Bibliographic Record (continued)

Author Keywords are indexed when included with the published item.KeyWords Plus are harvested from the titles of the cited articles.

Author affiliations are indexed when available with the published item. The reprint author’s address is listed as the first address in the field.

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Full Record / ElementsFull Record / ElementsAuthor name All authors indexed and searchable – last name and up

to 5 initials

Title Complete article title as published. Non-English titles translated into US English

Source Information

Journal title, Volume, Issue, Page Range, Date

Abstract Full author abstract

Author Keywords

When included in original publication

KeyWords Plus

Selected from titles of cited references

Address Author affiliations are captured when provided. First line of address field lists reprint author address

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Cited References

Cited References in blue are links to full records. (Limitedby your subscribeddata years.)

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Cited References (continued)

Cited References in plain text arecitations to items outside of your coverage; to items ISI doesn’t index (books, etc.); or to items that have been cited incorrectly by the author (cited reference variants.)

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Cited Reference ComponentsCited Journal Article

Cited Author First listed author's surname (up to 15 characters), aspace, and up to 3 initials.

Cited Work Title of work, abbreviated to 20 characters.

Cited Year Year of publication (as cited).

Volume Volume number, limited to 4 characters (Display only).

Page Beginning page number, limited to 5 characters (Displayonly).

Cited BookCited Author Author's surname (up to 15 characters), a space, and up

to 3 initials.

Cited Work Title of work, abbreviated to 20 characters.

Cited Year Year of publication as cited.

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Cited Reference Components (continued)

Cited PatentCited Author Patent Assignee (person or organization).

Cited Work Patent Number. Do not include country code. (Country codedisplays, but is not searchable).

Cited Year Year as cited.

Cited Corporate AuthorCited Author Organizational acronym or name. These names appear

preceded by an asterisk in the lookup table. Do not searchusing the beginning asterisk.

Cited Work Name given to report.

Cited Year Year as cited.

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Truncation

Symbol Retrieves

*Zero or more characters

$ Zero or one character

? One character only

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Boolean OperatorsBoolean OperatorsAll search terms must occur to be retrieved.

TOPIC: aspartame AND cancer*

Retrieves documents that contain both aspartame and cancer*.

Any one of the search terms must occur to be retrieved. Use when searching variants and synonyms.

TOPIC: aspartame OR saccharine OR sweetener*

Retrieves documents that contain at least one of the terms.

Excludes records that contain a given search term.

TOPIC: aids NOT hearing

Retrieves documents with aids, excluding any which also contain hearing.

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Proximity OperatorsProximity Operators

Implied Adjacency

By default, searching a phrase retrieves records that contain the adjacent terms in the same order.

Same Terms must occur within the same sentence, where “sentence” is generally a period-delimited string, in any order. In keyword fields, the SAME operator will retrieve records with search terms in the same keyword phrase.