What is it and why use it?
When you discover a great article and you want to find others who have referred to it in their writing (bringing you forward in time), you need a "cited reference" search tool.
Most databases do not (yet) offer a cited reference search option -- but some do. Your search results using such a tool will depend on the content/scope in the database. Keep in mind that to provide the cited reference information, the “tool” must have
- indexed the references at the end of each article (as in Web of Science) or
- be able to search the scanned content (Google) or
- own the content of the citing journal (as might a Publisher platforms and some specialized databases), or
- have an agreement to search across different journal publishers platforms (Google Scholar)
Every field has some access to cited reference searching. Google and Google Scholar are a place to begin if you have no other options, but
- the sciences and social sciences are covered in the Science and Social Science Citation Indexes or Web of Science (via Web of Knowledge);
- the arts and humanities are included in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (via FirstSearch)
- if your discipline happens to have a subject database with a cited reference search option, you may find additional “citing sources” not included in the Web of Science or Google.
One good article can be a time machine.
Bibliography<<Source Article>>Citing References
A good article can lead you back further in time through its bibliography. It can also take you forward in time using cited reference searching.
Cited reference search considerations
Cited Author: Unless you are searching a very common last name (smith, lee, etc.) consider all permutations of the cited author's name: last name; last name and first initial; last name, first and middle initials. You may need to search by the lead author of the cited reference because for some databases, only the first author may be indexed.Citation Formats: Cited reference searching works best for references to periodical articles. Journals use different formats for articles cited that may affect your search results. Beware of inconsistency in citation format such as misspellings, incorrect years or volume numbers.
Citation Date: If you locate only a few or no cited references to an article, consider whether the research may be too recent.
Citation Formats: Cited reference searching seems to work best for references to articles but remember, Journals use different formats for articles cited that may affect your search results. Beware of inconsistency in citation format such as misspellings, incorrect years or volume numbers.
