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Cited Author

Enter the last name of the first listed author of the cited publication. Follow the last name with a space and up to 3 initials. Use the cited author index to look up the names of cited authors.

If the citation refers to a journal article that is also a source item in Web of Science® published during the timespan covered by your institution's subscription, you can enter the name of any of its authors.

For example, if you are looking for cited references to the journal article "Preventing the use of biological weapons: Improving response should prevention fail," published in Clinical Infectious Diseases 30 (6): 926-929 June 2000, you can enter the name of any of the three authors of the article: Inglesby TV, O'Toole T, or Henderson DA. Ellipses (...) will appear before the name of a secondary author in the cited reference index.

However, it is advisable to enter the name of the first listed author in the Cited Author field. That way, you will be sure to retrieve all variations of the same cited reference.


Guidelines for Entering Names

Format

Enter up to three initials after the last name. It is advisable to truncate after the first initial. Authors may be cited with just one initial. You may enter a surname without any initials. For example:

  • Enter Wold AE to look up references with Wold AE as a cited author.

  • Enter Wold A* to look up cited authors with the last name Wold and the first initial A.

  • Enter Wold to look up cited authors with the last name Wold.

Case

Use either upper, lower, or mixed case. For example, CRICK, Crick, or crick finds the same results.

Wildcards

  • Use the asterisk (*) to represent any number of characters. For example, Aglitsk* matches Aglitskaya, Aglitski, Aglitskii, Aglitskiy.

  • Use the question mark (?) to represent one character. For example, Bens?n C* matches Bensen C, Benson C, Bensen CA, Benson CS, and so on.

  • Use the dollar sign ($) to represent one or no characters. For example, Hof$man$ WC matches Hofman WC, Hoffman WC, Hofmann WC, Hoffmann WC.

Boolean Search Operators

Separate two or more names by the Boolean operator OR.

If the cited author has a common last name, try combining variations with OR instead of truncating after the first initial. This way, you will retrieve fewer irrelevant references. For example:

  • Enter Calvin W* OR Brown M* to look up cited references with either of these authors as the cited author.

  • Enter Brown M OR Brown ME to look up cited references with Brown M or Brown ME as the cited author.

  • Brown M* to look up cited references matches Brown M, Brown MA, Brown MB, Brown ME, and so on.

Quotation Marks

Use quotation marks (") around the words AND, OR, NOT, SAME, or SENT in any field when you do not intend these words to serve as search operators.

  • Enter "OR" W to search for cited works authored by William Or.
  • Enter Koechli "OR" to search for works authored by O. R. Koechli.

Hyphens and Apostrophes

If the surname contains a hyphen, or apostrophe, enter the name both with and without the punctuation mark. Likewise, enter a surname with embedded spaces with and without the spaces.

Join the two versions of the name with OR.

  • Obrien R* OR O'Brien R*
  • Lopez-Gonzalez J* OR Lopezgonzalez J*
  • Deville A* OR De Ville A*

Length

If the surname is longer than fifteen characters, enter the first fifteen characters followed by an asterisk to represent the remaining characters. For example, Klapdor-Kleingrothaus* OR KlapdorKleingro* matches

  • KlapdorKleingrothaus HV
  • Klapdor-Kleingrothaus HV
  • KLAPDORKLEINGRO.H
  • KLAPDORKLEINGRO.HK
  • KLAPDORKLEINGRO.HV.

Search Tips

  • To search for anonymous authors, enter anon in the Author field.

  • To search on the name AND, OR, NOT, and SAME, enclose the name in quotation marks. Example: "Or"

Did You Know ...

The cited reference index may display a shortened version of the name you entered. Regardless, enter the full last name of the author. The Web of Science search engine automatically adjusts for data variations.

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