Web of Science Core Collection uses a form of limited keyword searching -- keyword searching limited to different search types that search specific fields i
n the reference's record. The list of search types is illustrated to the right.
As an example, to find articles on a particular topic, enter your keyword or keywords and choose to search TOPIC. This will search:
- the title of the article,
- the abstract of the article,
- the author-assigned keywords, and
- the vendor assigned keywords (called Keywords Plus).
There is no controlled vocabulary in Web of Science.
Field Searching
Field searching is available through the advanced search option.
Boolean Operators: AND, OR, and NOT
Boolean operators can be used as part of the default search builder or through the Advanced Search screen when doing field searching. Unless specified, the Boolean Operator AND is implied between adjacent search terms.
Boolean operators are resolved after any proximity operators and in the following order: NOT, OR, AND
Proximity Operators: NEAR/x
Proximity operators work to find records where the search terms are found within a specified number of words from each other. Unless specified, the default "x" is 15 words.
Note that proximity operators CANNOT be used in conjuntion with the Boolean Operator, AND (actual or implied) when using a TOPIC or a TITLE search.
Proximity operators are resolved first before resolution of the Boolean Operators
Truncation and Wildcards
Truncation and wildcards may be used as follows:
- The asterisk (*) represents any group of characters, including no character. (This is your truncation symbol.)
- The question mark (?) represents any single character. (This is a wildcard symbol.)
- The dollar sign ($) represents zero or one character. (This is a wildcard symbol.)
Left hand truncation may be used in the following search types: Topic, Title, Accession Number, and Identifying Codes.
In Topic and Title searches, be sure to include at least three more characters before or after the asterisk.
In the case of Accession Numbers, at least one additional character after the asterisk must be used. In the case of an Author search, two characters must included before the asterisk.
Do not use wildcard symbols after special characters and punctuation or in a search by publication year or within quoted searching. They don't work in these cases.
For more information on how to use truncation and wildcards in Web of Science, check out the Core Collection help function on the topic.
Limiters
Once you have retrieved a list of references, you may want to refine the search. Options for refining your results include Web of Science categories, document type, publication dates, among others.
Sorting
By default, the references returned from your search will be sorted by Publication Date, newest to oldest. Other options exist as illustrated by the screen shot to the right.
If you are trying to determine which reference in your list has had the most impact, you will want to consider sorting by Times Cited, highest to lowest. This will illustrate that an article has to be in circulation for a while to have an impact on the research being done in the field.