Web of Science Improves Research Process for Ball State’s Students and Faculty

The University Libraries provide access to the Web of Science, a powerful multidisciplinary database that includes Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Responding to high faculty demand for the Web of Science, the University Libraries have purchased content back to 1987, replacing the cumbersome print citation indexes, which were difficult to use and interpret. With the excellent online alternative, which is available 24/7 from your desktop, using this valuable tool for research and learning is easy.

The purpose of citation indexes is to allow researchers to locate references cited by the authors of articles covered by the index, and Web of Science helps users move seamlessly through scholarly literature, analyzing citation data for articles and their authors. Web of Science includes information from approximately 8,700 high impact research journals, and over 500,000 newly cited references that are added weekly to the database.

Unlike the print predecessors of the Web of Science, the database offers enriched research information including selected article abstracts, author affiliations and contact information as well as advanced citation analysis tools such as configurable and customizable citation bar graphs and citation maps, which graphically display the citation relationships between an article and other articles. Users can also create Web of Science accounts in order to create personal research profiles with citation alerts, compile and manage lists of citation records, and save searches.

Additionally, the functionality of Web of Science is enhanced with
Find It @ BSU, the Libraries’ full-text linking utility, which offers point-and-click routing to full-text articles that exist in the rich electronic collections available through the Ball State University Libraries.

The University Libraries continue to offer our students and faculty the very best tools for scholarly research. Web of Science is a significant resource for evaluating and locating the very best scholarship in a wide variety of disciplines. It maximizes knowledge discovery potential and streamlines the research process, supporting classroom instruction, individual learning, and successful educational outcomes for Ball State University students and faculty.