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Biomedical Sciences Research Guide

Introduction to library resources and other information sources for biomedical science students and faculty.

Citation Chaining

Did you do a search for articles, but only found one or two that were relevant to your research? Try using citation chaining. Citation chaining is the practice of reviewing citations referenced in the bibliography of articles that are relevant to your research. If you found a good article, chances are it is based on research they may be relevant to your work, too.

Web of Science screenshot

Some databases allow you to easily explore the references listed in a paper as well as articles that cite that paper. Web of Science is particularly strong in this regard. To the right of each record listed in the search results page, there are clickable links to view the references listed in that paper and to see which papers cite that paper. See the image above.

Look at "References" to find earlier research and review "Citations" to find more recent research articles. Web of Science is just one of many databases that offers this kind of feature.

Vet Med and Animal Science Librarian

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Brad Kuennen
he/him/his
Contact:
Vet Med Library
2280 Patterson Hall
1800 Christensen Drive
Ames, IA 50011-1134
515-294-2225