American Chemical Society
Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques
— August 1998 —
Science Citation Index (SCI)
Teaching Points
- Unique type of searching, based on the culture of science
If you use someone’s work, you cite it in your paper - Can trace forward in time from a basic work to see how it has been used
Pauling, Chemical Bond — written in 1930, cited today! - Keyword and author searches are also possible
Because SCI covers approximately 3,000 of the most important journals in all science, engineering, math, and some medical areas, it is an excellent source for interdisciplinary topics - Can locate “related” articles (in CD-ROM and some online versions.) “Related” articles share the same footnotes, so are likely to be on the same topic.
- Many authors enjoy seeing how many times they have been cited and by whom
Citation counts can be misleading- Citations are indexed by first author listed
- No verification of citations is done — many errors exist in the database
Teaching Materials
This database is expensive, in print and online and may not be available in your institution. However teaching materials exist which can give students a flavor for this unique and valuable database.
- Primer
on Citation Searching with Sample Searches
From ISI’s web site; includes examples from the Web and CD versions of Science Citation Index - Citation Index materials from the CCIIM Clearinghouse
- Lecture on Science Citation Index
- Practice Questions