Web of Science : Getting Started

You can choose to search across all Web of Science databases (Core Collection) or selected databases.

Search by keyword in fields such as topic, title, author, publication name, and publication.

The Web of Science database allows you to create a more targeted and precise search by using a combination of search fields and Boolean operators. This feature provides more control over your search strategy and allows you to retrieve highly relevant results.

1. Increased precision: You can create a more focused search by using specific search fields and operators.

2. Enhanced relevance: By refining your search, you are more likely to retrieve highly relevant results.

3. Time-saving: Advanced Search can help you to retrieve the relevant results more quickly than a basic search, as you can use precise criteria and avoid sifting through irrelevant results.

Example for a search using Web of Science

To find articles that discuss the relationship between physical activity and mental health among older adults. 

1. In the first search box, enter the keywords "physical activity" and "older adults".

2. In the second search box, enter the keywords "mental health".

3. Using the drop-down menus, select "Title" as the search field for both search boxes.

4. Use the Boolean operator "AND" to combine the two search boxes.

5. Use the drop-down menu for "Publication Year" to enter a range of years that includes recent research, for example, 2015-01-01 to 2023-12-30.

6. Click on the "Search" button to retrieve the results.

This search query will retrieve articles that have the keywords "physical activity" and "older adults" in the title, as well as the keyword "mental health" in the title, and were published between 2015 and 2023. 

The 'sort by' drop down option allows to sort search results.

Search Tips

• Choose specific terms that are closely related to your research topic, including terms you might use when discussing your topic with a colleague such as jargon, synonyms, and abbreviations. Keep in mind that WoS automatically finds variant spellings and forms of a word.
• Use Boolean operators to limit, broaden, or eliminate terms from your search: 
  • AND limits search results, finding articles with both terms
  • OR broadens results, finding articles with either term
  • NOT eliminates terms from the results, finding articles with one term but not the other
• Use proximity operators to limit your results to records that have designated search terms within a specified number of words of each other:
  • NEAR/# finds records where the search terms are within # number of words of each other. NEAR without /# defaults to a 15 word maximum
  • SAME is only used in Address searches, and restricts search results to terms that are located within the same address in a record.
• Use truncation and wildcards to broaden your search: 
  • Add an asterisk (*) to replace multiple characters in a word (eg. biol* returns biology, biologist)
  • Add a question mark (?) to replace a single character (e.g. disrupt?rs for disrupters and disruptors)
  • Add a dollar sign ($) to replace one or zero characters (eg. odo$r for odor and odour)
• Use quotation marks around words to search for an exact phrase.
• Search for hyphenated phrases both with and without the hyphen to help find records that might contain both versions of the term