How do I do a citation search?

Student writing in a journal and searching on a laptop

What is a citation search?

Citation searching is a way to find relevant research in a field or subject by looking at what an article has referenced and who has referenced that article since it was published. For example, if you find a journal article from 2017, a citation search can show you both the articles it cited and the articles that have cited it since then. This helps you to see how research on the topic has evolved over time.

Why do a citation search?

There are several reasons to do a citation search:

  • It can help uncover relevant articles from unexpected disciplines. 
  • It can indicate how influential a particular idea, theory or study has become. If an article has been cited many times, it suggests it has been widely read and discussed. It could also be widely cited because it is considered controversial.
  • It allows you to track an argument or idea over time.
  • It helps you find other possible terms to use in your searches.
  • It’s useful for putting together a bibliography or list of recommended readings.

How do you do a citation search?

  1. Identify a key article: Start by finding a key article, author, or book that you’re studying, or one that is referenced in another article you’re looking at (usually something that has been in publication for at least one or two years). This will be the focus of your search.
  2. Find a database with a citation index: Web of Science, Google Scholar, Academic Search Complete, ScienceDirect, and Scopus all include citation indexes.
  3. Carry out the citation search: Use the title or author’s name to search for citations in the database.
  4. Review the results: The search will provide a list of articles that have cited the same article, author, or book in their own reference lists. These articles likely discuss aspects of the subject you’re interested in.

By doing this, you are building a ‘web of knowledge’ for your topic. You may find useful articles in journals that seem unrelated to your main subject.

Example searches

Web of Science

Here is an example search from Web of Science using Jones, J.C. (1980) Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures, 2nd edn, Wiley, as the target book citation:

  1. Access Web of Science.
  2. Select ‘Cited reference Search’.
  3. Enter the name of your target author in the prescribed format (Jones JC) and the year of publication (1980).
  4. Select Search.
  5. You will then get a list of the books and papers published by Jones in 1980, which have been cited in the bibliographies of the articles in the Web of Science database.
  6. Select the check boxes in the list that match the work you are interested in (in this case Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures). Then select 'See Results'. to see who has cited it.
  7. To view more information about any of these articles click on the article title.
  8. To check whether an article is available in full text via the OU Library select 'OU Full Text?'.

For a guide to using the database, you can access the Web of Science Platform Training Resources.

Google Scholar

Here is an example search from Google Scholar using Jones, J.C. (1980) Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures, 2nd edn, Wiley, as the target book citation:

  1. Go to Google Scholar.
  2. Search for the text you are interested in e.g. ‘Jones Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures 1980’.
  3. Under the entry for that text, follow the ‘Cited by [number of citations]’ link.
  4. This presents you with a list of other texts that have cited the text you specified.

You can set up Google Scholar to enable seamless access to journal articles subscribed to by the OU Library. You can find instructions on how to do this, on the Access eresources using Google Scholar page.

Citation searching tips

To get the best out of your citation searches:

  • Use multiple databases: Different databases may index different sets of journals and articles, so using more than one can provide a more thorough search.
  • Refine your search: Use filters such as publication date, subject area, and document type to narrow down the results to the most relevant citations.
  • Stay updated: Some databases allow you to set alerts to get notified about new research on your topic.