Research Guides: Information Literacy: 19. Following Citations

Google Scholar Citation Chaining Tutorial

Citation Chasing Resources

Browsing & Searching Cited References in EBSCO

This page goes over how to search for cited references in the various databases EBSCO offers.

Following Citations

Using Bibliographies

Backward Citation Search

The list of works cited by a scholar gives you a snapshot of the thinking and research available at the time the research was published. It tells you what sources, ideas, theories have shaped and influenced a researcher. To look at the list of sources cited in a work is called 'backward citation searching.' Below is a sample bibliography, which is is also known as a reference or work cited list.

Forward Citation Search

Finding out whether an article was cited by authors after its publication will help you assess the importance of that article and how it has shaped subsequent research and scholarship. This is called 'forward citation searching". Increasingly, databases include who cited a particular reference. Look for the "Cited by" or "Times Cited" features.

Citation Tool Examples

Google Scholar

Google Scholar offers a CITED BY link at the bottom of each search result.

PubMed

PubMed lists how many times an item has been cited to the right of each search result. You can also search for specific authors within all Web of Science databases to view other works they have published.

Information Literacy: 19. Following Citations