By citation trail
Searching by citation trail
Finding resources by a citation trail is a method used to identify how often and where a particular publication has been cited by other works. This is useful for:
- Finding additional studies and publications that are relevant to your topic.
- Understanding the significance and influence of the original work within its field.
Starting with a known publication, such as a journal article, book, or conference paper that is significant to your topic area, you can then use the tools described below to:
- Forward citation search: Identify newer works that have cited the original publication.
- Backward citation search: Examine the references cited by the original publication to find earlier related research.
Library Search
Find the known reference in Library Search. Select one of the citation trail options to find cited references.
Find sources citing this item (forward citation search).
Find sources cited in this item (backward citation search).
Research databases and websites
Databases such as Web of Science and Scopus are the most comprehensive tools to use for citation trail searching.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science includes the Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index. Historically, it has been the most widely used tool for citation analysis.
- Scopus This link opens in a new windowProduced by Elsevier, Scopus covers the sciences (life sciences, health sciences and physical sciences), social sciences and humanities.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowGoogle Scholar also tracks citation data. It has better coverage in the arts and humanities than Web of Science or Scopus, but covers the sciences as well. Publish or Perish is software that extracts the citation data present in Google Scholar and produces a range of metrics, including the h-index and journal impact metrics. Produced by Professor Anne-Wil Harzing of the University of Melbourne. The Publish or Perish software is not supported by Library Services.
Citation trail updates
You can set up alerts in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar to be notified when a key publication is cited.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window
- Search for the paper you are interested in.
- Click the title.
- Look for the Create Citation Alert button.
- Scopus This link opens in a new window
- Search for the paper you are interested in.
- Click the title.
- Look for the Set citation alert option.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
- Search for the paper you are interested in.
- Click the Cited by link under the summary.
- Click the Create alert option.