Q. What does "cited reference searching" mean?

A. To identify all the articles (and other documents, if possible) that reference a previously published document.

Q. Why is cited reference searching valuable to research? 

A. We can trace the scholarly conversation.  We can begin to learn which debates drive the conversation and which ideas concern the discipline.  We can identify influential articles and scholars.  We can discern how fields of scholarship developed, cohered, divided, and evolved over time. 

Web of Science/Social Sciences Citation Index and Google Scholar are the major citation indexes.

Step-by-step instructions are included in this guide for conducting a cited reference search using:

• Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) - articles
• Google Scholar - articles and books