Web of Science Core Collection

Citation indexing database. Search the Web of Science Core Collection using field-specific terms and Boolean logic.

01 · Access and sign in

Open Web of Science Core Collection

Open Web of Science through UTM Library or your institution’s subscribed database portal. Sign in through institutional access/SSO if required. Confirm that Core Collection is selected and check which subscribed indexes are available to you before you search.

Open Web of Science Core Collection ↗Official search guide ↗Official search/export help ↗Export marked lists ↗

02 · Search for SLR

Search features to practise

Topic, title, author and source fields; Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT; proximity operator NEAR; phrase searching; search history; result filtering; marked lists; and record export.

Database coverage matters. Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection are citation-indexing databases. IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect and Springer Nature Link are scholarly content platforms with their own search collections. Coverage and search behaviour differ; document each source separately and justify it in your protocol.

03 · Hands-on exercise

Build and test a search

Start from your review topic and identify two or three main concepts.
List synonyms and spelling variants for each concept. Combine synonyms with OR and concept groups with AND.
Copy the sample below and replace the terms with your own concepts. Check the database help page for field syntax and operators.
Run the search, inspect a sample of titles and abstracts, and revise unclear or over-restrictive terms.
Apply only filters justified by your scope or protocol. Record the exact query and search date before moving to another source.
Export available bibliographic fields, abstracts and keywords. Check the export and import the records into Zotero; retain the original export file.

Search approach: In the Core Collection, use Topic for a first exploratory search. Combine related synonyms with OR and concept groups with AND. Use quotation marks for a phrase. Apply filters only after checking that they match your protocol.

Adaptable example search string

TS=("explainable artificial intelligence" OR XAI) AND TS=("intrusion detection" OR "anomaly detection")

Run your query and review the records. Check how the Topic field is defined in the current interface, inspect titles and abstracts, then test an alternative term. Record the database edition/index, query, date, filters and count.

04 · Record and carry forward

What to save after this search

Web of Science search record, exact query, index/edition searched, date, filters, results count, exported reference file and at least one verified seed article.

✓ Database/platform name and search date

✓ Exact query and fields searched

✓ Filters and total results retrieved

✓ Original export file and verified seed record

Important: Web of Science and Scopus have different coverage. If your protocol names both, search and log each source separately; do not combine their counts before duplicate checking.

Record this search in the Stage 1 Search Log →Organize references in Zotero

Also see Keyword Matrix & Boolean Search · Keyword Matrix & Boolean Search · Database Selection