Abstract
Web of Science (WoS) is the world’s oldest, most widely used and authoritative database of research publications and citations. Based on the Science Citation Index, founded by Eugene Garfield in 1964, it has expanded its selective, balanced, and complete coverage of the world’s leading research to cover around 34,000 journals today. A wide range of use cases are supported by WoS from daily search and discovery by researchers worldwide through to the supply of analytical data sets and the provision of specialized access to raw data for bibliometric partners. A long- and well-established network of such partners enables the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) to continue to work closely with bibliometric groups around the world to the benefit of both the community and the services that the company provides to researchers and analysts.
Highlights
The Web of Science ( WoS) Core Collection database is a selective citation index of scientific and scholarly publishing covering journals, proceedings, books, and data compilations
A wide range of use cases are supported by WoS from daily search and discovery by researchers worldwide through to the supply of analytical data sets and the provision of specialized access to raw data for bibliometric partners
A long- and well-established network of such partners enables the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) to continue to work closely with bibliometric groups around the world to the benefit of both the community and the services that the company provides to researchers and analysts
Summary
The Web of Science ( WoS) Core Collection database is a selective citation index of scientific and scholarly publishing covering journals, proceedings, books, and data compilations. It is the oldest citation index for the sciences, having been introduced commercially by the ISI in 1964, initially as an information retrieval tool called the Science Citation Index (SCI) (Garfield, 1964). Computing power increased and digital dissemination reduced expenses, but selectivity remained a hallmark of coverage because Garfield had decided early on to focus on internationally influential journals His decision was informed by Bradford’s Law of Scattering (Bradford, 1934) as well as his own research on SCI data that revealed Garfield’s Law of Concentration (Garfield, 1971, 1972). Van Eck, and Waltman have recently compared different sources of bibliographic and citation data, including WoS (Visser et al, 2019) and—for those who wish to consult it—their analysis provides further information to guide good practice and research use
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