Library and Information Science Commons^™

Pointing Users Toward Citation Searching: Using Google Scholar And Web Of Science, Robert Schroeder

Library Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since April 2005, 10 studies have been published that directly compare the citation features of Google Scholar to those of Web of Science. In an effort to better understand the advantages and disadvantages of these tools, the author undertook an investigation of this research. Although the parameters of the studies varied greatly with respect to the disciplines, dates, and sample sizes, analysis of these preliminary studies can help us gain an initial—albeit sketchy—impression of the relative strength and weakness of each service. The results of this effort are reported here as an informal meta-analysis, followed by some recommendations for utilizing …