decide-at lesst at this time-whether the even the most disciplined academic might en- SSCZhas made a more significantcontribution joy once in a whiie. Wkhout Mr. Weinstock’s to science, scholarship, and society than, say, charismaticpcs-so% what follows may not be a the Index to (Xrrent Urban Wuments remarkabledescriptionof the SSC1,but I think (Greenwood Press), another of the tinslists. (i that unabashed pride I’ve mentioned) that Whatever the outcome of thejudges’ tkud you’11find it a useful enough description of a round, it was a gratifying experkrw to blow remarkableproduct. our own horn, on requea~ an experience that

The Social Sciences Citation Index, More Than a Tool

Since its introduction in 1973, the linked together. This fact is of anormous Social Sciences Citation /ndex~(SSCPj importance, both for ongoing research in of the Institute for Scientific Information the social sciances and for tha study of has been greeted with widespread en- their development as sciences. thusiasm by researchers and librarians Not only doas the SSCI link the so- throughout the world. Tha SSC/ can al- cial disciplines themselves, but it also ready be found in more than five hundred links them to the so-called natural sci- libraries in more than thirty-five different ences. Tha SSCI covers more than 1000 countrias. Among the SSIXs typical journals, covar-to-cover. In addition, how- users are the British Museum, the Lenin ever, another 1250 journals-from State Library in Moscow, the University among those covared by tha Science Ci- of Hong Kong, Tal Aviv University, Cam- tation Index @ (SCt@)--are routinely bridge University, tha Rand Corporation, scanned for articles that cite social sci- the Harvard Science Center, the Stan- ences material. ‘Hard” science journals ford Research Institute, the Massachu- frequently cite social sciences journals, setts Institute of Technology, and Colum- and vice versa. Itis by no maans a rare bia, Yale, and Princeton Universities. phenomenon. One common example is We believe that the reason for the the use of radiocarbon and other analyti- SSCfs overwhelming commercial suc- cal methods in archaeological dating, cess in its first two years is a simpla one: something familiar to most educated lay- the SSC/ is unique, it is one of a kind. men. But there are hundreds more. Con- It is unique from a number of view- sider the usa of mathematics and statis- points tha rapid and gratifying rasponsa tics in virtually evary social science. Or of uers; tha extent and quality of its consider something as specific as the covarage; its timeliness; its innovative contribution of naural physiology and forma~ the flexibility of searching ap- feedback theory to tha study of percep proaches it offers. Perhaps one can best tual and motor skills. The specialist, of sum up its uniqueness by emphasizing coursa, is aware of such relationships, that it is the first and only multidisciplb and thair ties in the Iitarature, but the nary citation index for the social non-specialist and particularly the stu- sciences. dent probably is not. Till now neither has The SSC/ covers all the social had any tool that could, as tha SSC/ will, sciencas-including anthropology, busi- clarify such relationships through their ness, communications, criminology, edu- citation Iinkagas. The social sciences d- cation, geography, history, information penal upon multidisciplinary information. and library sciencas, law, Iinguiatics, phi- Thay draw on each othar, on the ‘hard- losophy, sociology, and many other disci- sciencas, and also upon tha humanities, plines that formerly could be ap- for tools, analytical methods, and thair proached only through a multiplicity of organization and interpretation of data separata subject indexes. In the SSC/ all on social and behavioral phenomena.a”e these subject areas are, for the first time,

241 Traditionally indexes for tha various Source Index provides the names of all disciplines of the social sciences have authors, the full title (with a code for covered, at the most, a few hundrad jour- Ianguagas other than English), journal ti- nals. The SSC/ covers every significant tle, volume, page number, publication item-a rticles, letters, editorials, notes, data, type-of-item code (article, letter, ed- corrections, reviews, etc.—from more itorial, etc.), and a ‘citation abstract”. The than 1000 of the world’s important and Iaat is a recent innovation that has more influential social sciences journals. In ad- than doublad the size of the Source in- dition, as mentioned above, it scans dex of tha SSCI. It lists, in condensed more than 1250 other journals from the form, the citations of all itams cited in the ‘hard’ sciences for eny article that has references of the source article.’” Ba- cited any journal it covers, and picks up sidas adding information and giving the all such articles for inclusion in the SSC/. searcher more insight into the author’s In the past, indexes for the social purpose and sources, the inclusion of sciences have appeerad monthly, quar- citation abstracts greatly facilitates the terly, annually, but rerely if ever have itarative search technique that we call they been current. Ithas not been un- cycling. Each of the listed citations in the usual for there to be a time-leg of two citation abstract calls the searcher’s at- years or more between an item’s publica- tention to another previously published tion and its citation by an index. The and relevant article. W[th these citstions SSC/ appears three times a year. The first the seercher can reenter the citation in- of its two soft+over issues covers journal dax for a more comprehensive literature material published from Januaw through search, and informatioql on other re- April. The second covers matarial pub- cantly published articles. lished from May through August. Both of ALso, to make contact between sci- these soft-cover issues of the SSCI ara entists as easy as possible, tha Source available within a few months of the Index entry gives the mailing eddress of close of the indexing period. A user can every first author. search for-and find-references to arti- The third component of the SSCI cles published in April as early as June of system is the Perrrwterm @Subject Index the same year, or for articles published in (PSI). The PSI makes an entry for everv August as early as October. The third significant word from the title of every issue of eech year’s SSCI is a hard-cover article, and pairs it with every othar sig- annual cumulation of the first two issues nificant word from that title. Each such with material from journals published word-pair entry rafers the searcher to a during the last third of the year. The SSC/ first-author entry in tha Source Index sec- is a calendar-year index, and each annual tion, thus providing another means of cumulation-available within four subject access to the current year’s months of the end of the year-covers all literature. material pub/ished during that year. Because of the SSCI’S tripartite The SSC/ is not a single book, vol- structure of citation, source, and word ume, or index. It is an integrated search indexes, it offers unique search capabili- system, consisting of three separate but ties that have heretofore been unavaila- related parts. ble in the social sciences. First is the Citation /ndex section, When the user knows an earlier pa- which lists by first author all previously per relevant to his search, he can locate it published items that have been cited dur- quickly in the Citation Index. There he ing the current year. It indicates current will find all significant articles, published articles that have cited the older work, during the year, that have cited the ear- giving first author, journal titla, page, and Iiar paper. In the Source Index ha will year of the new citing articles. find complete bibliographic information Second is the Source hrdexsection. on eech of the current papers. This is a Basically, it is a straightforward author useful way to begin when one wishes to index to all items published in covered pick up where one left off in the case of journals during the year, and to items earlier work--one’s own or published in other journals whose cita- anothar’s-when work or interest has tions have revaaled a link with social been suspended. The Citation Index al- sciences. For each indaxed item, the lows one to construct a currant bibliogra-

242 phy rapidly, for a summs~ of activity on and verifyhg all processed items. Every the topic sinca it wea dropped. journal issue received is Ioggad in, edit- But let’s say the searcher doesn’t ed, and marked to inaura that all required know of an earlier paper that is relevant data will be recorded. Foreign language to his interest. Perhaps ha is entering a titles are translated into English, and cita- new field; parhaps ha is a graduate stu- tions ara processed from footnotes, bi- dant starting a new project. From hia bliographies, and even from running knowledge of the subject text. Every aingta entry is scrutinized by a terminology-however limited that may combined human and computer editing be--he picks words descriptive of hia system, and all data are machine= interest and locates expropriate word- verified. A final computer aditing routine paira in the Permuterm Subject Index. cleansas tha data of spelling errors, vari- The entries he finds will indicate namas ant terminological forms. and unifies of first authora who have used those variantir corrects outright arrors-in worda in titles of current articles. Again, bibliographic data, such as journal titles, the searcher will find full bibliographic page numbara, etc. After computer for- data on the articles so identified in the matting and photocomposition, the m- Source Index. terial is offset-printed and bound. In another situation, the searcher The SSC/, like all indexes, ia a tool, may know only the name of soma expert and like all tools, it is an extension of the in tha field. A quick check of the Source person who uses it. It can be used effec- Index will tell him whaL if anything, his tively with eithar simple or complex expen has published during the period search strategies. covered by the index. If the expen has But quite apart from its value as a published nothing during the period, the ratriaval tool, the SSC/ is an intrinsic data saarchar can turn to the expert% name in source for students of the sociology and the Citation Index for reference to cur- history of scianca. With it one can trace rent articles that have cited his expert’s the development of scientific concepts, aarlier work. theorias, and discoveries through cita- Finally, let-a say the user knows of tion Iinkagas. no specific article, or author, and doean”t Before the introduction of the SSC/, trust his own knowledge of the technical studants followed the development of vocabula~ to giva him productive word- thought in tha social sciences by means pair descriptions. But he does know of an of traditional disciplinary historias. organization that specializes in research These historias have dealt mainly with on the subject that interests him. He can the impect and influence of major uae the organization’s name as an entry figure%the giants-in a given field. point. Checking undar the name of the For tha first time, tha SSC/ has organization in the Corporate Inde& he presented students with the opportunity will find the namas of people at the insti- and a means of tracing the impact of any tution who have recently published. A person% work, with bibliographic objec- look-p in the Source Index then pr- tivity. By tracing citation linkages ba- vidaa complete bibliographical informa- twean papera, the SSC\ enables the stu- tion on current work emanating from that dent to devalop a sense of tha kind of institution. research that has systematic repercus- Evary article indexed in the SSC/ is sions, that produces papers with a muM- available to the researcher through 1S1”s tude of ‘citation progeny’. In the same Original Article Tear Sheet@(OAT@ ser- way, the SSC/ points up instances of vice. Aa a fully integrated, total informa- ‘dead-and” research, where publication tion systam, the SSC/ provides this li- has failad to influence or stimulate fur- brary sewice, just as it does for users of ther investigation. anothar part of the systam, Current Saminal papera generate networks Contents/Sociel and Behavioral of citations, linking papara overtime and Sciences.*z within and beyond disciplinary bounda- The accuracy and completeness of ries. Study of thesa detailed networka of all sections of the Social Sciencas Cita- papera linked by citations impa~ a tion /ndex are assured by a sophisticated sense of the continuity, of the interrela- system of antering, checking, editing, tion and the interdapendenca that is

243 charactariatic of scientific inqui~. The students a concrete and specific sense citation pattern is eloquent testimony of of how ideas spill over into neighboring the essentially cumuly;ive nature of sci- disciplines or quasidisciplines. The SSC/ ence and scholarship. alerts them to the ways in which socio- Following the evidence of the cita- logical ideas do overflow their disciplin- tion network, the student acquires a ary banks. Students using the SSC/ can’t sense of the diverse applications of the avoid acquiring a sense of the actual same or a related idea in different sub- operating texture of disciplines, the re- stantive areaa. The same idea or tool or ciprocal uses of common materials, ida- method may arise or ba applied in what as, and instruments. This is by all odds seamed to be wholly unrelated disci- the most important aspect of the$eneral plines. No other literature tool can so training that the SSC/ provides.’”’ clearly elucidate the interrelationships of Let us suggest the image of a del- research advancas in the social sciences. uge of ideas. The literary oceans of the One of our most enthusiastic users, “hard’ sciences and the social sciencas Professor Roben K. Merton of Columbie are nowhere separable. They merge, University, recently told us, “The inten- each contributing to a common mass, sive use of the SSCI creates a kind of just as both have been fed by a multitude new contect with continuities and die- of meandering, intertwined tributaries. continuities in recent thought in the so- The Social Sciences Citation Indax pro cial sciences, and also provides a kind of vides the best chart we as yet have of the imagery of the interrelationships be- every-changing currents, making plain twean ideas or techniques that ordinarily which channels have been navigable and appear in isolated spheres of work within which may make for further productive the larger field of sociology. It gives most journay.

L Garfield E. The information revolution reacbss 1. Weinstoc& M. “ISI’Ssocisl xciencsa snd hmrmn- the social sciencrs; 1S1helps bridge the ga bstwcen the ities citation index.” In: Access to the literstum of the two CUlmre$. Cuma.t Cent.mse(d No.,, ,0 xacisl sciences and hummities; procedin@ of the con- JxnusrY 1973, P. 3-7. ference on access to knowledge snd information in the 2. ——. Information, power, and the Science said sciencessnd hmnsnitias, New York City, April Citation Index. CC No. 6,9 Febmery 1972, p. 5-6. 5th & 6th, 1972, p. 120-33 (Flushing, New York: 3. -. Citstion fraquency ss a meesure of ra- Queens College Pram, 1974), 199 pp. search sctivity md perfonnanm. CC No. 5, 31 Jmu- 9. ——. “1S3’sSceislSciencesCitationIndex a sry 1973, p.5-’7. new comprehensive multidisciplinary information re- 4. —. Ckstion enalyxis ss a rod in journal trieval system.” Paper preacntuf at the National Con- evaluation. Science 178471-79, 1972. — The vention of the American Society for Infmmetion Sci- references citsd in this and the itams above will provide an incomplete but estensive bibliography on the sub. ence, 2>26 Dctobcr 1972, Washington, D,C. jact Sea especially foottmte 33 of this psper, as re. 10. Gartfeld E Bibliographic, citations, and cita- ~irt$i in Currant Contents No. 6,7 February 1973, p. tion abstracts. CC No. 51, 18 December 1974, p. 5-6. 11. Social Sciences Citation Index, 1973 Annusl, s. Newefl A. Personal communication, 27 Febru- Cm’de snd .JournsJ Lists. (Philsdelphim Institute for ary 1%2: “...there seems little doubt that citatinn in- Scientific Information, 1974), 96 pp. — Tfm Guide dexes wiU be used incrcasiegly m a means of ev.dusti~ descri~s fully the format and use of the SSC/ thst am scientifk merit.” Quotsd im Cerfield E. ‘“Ckation IxWly summarized here. Co@es are aveilable from ISL indexing, histerio-bibliography, and the sociology of 12. GerEeld E. Clu_rent Cantcnts/Scwisl & Behtw- science.” Im Pmceadings of the third intimation.d con- iocd .%iencea compenent of H’s 03Ss1information gress of medical Iibrsrisnship, Amsterdsm, 5-9 May system for the sncial snd bchwiorsl sciences. CC No. 1%9, sd. by K. E. Davis &W. D. Sweeney (Amsterdsnx 45,7 November 1973. Excerpts Medics, 1970), pp. 187-204; end reprinted in 13. DeMtscb K W et d. Conditions favoring majnr CWrent Contentf No. 15,14 April 1971, p.M23-tl, advsncas in said science. Science 171:45G59, 1971. 6. American Librrmy .%soeisitlo+ Reference am! 14. Metion R K. Behavior patterns of American Subscription Books RevSew Cammdties. Reference scientists. Amen”can Scholar 38:2, 1969. — The Md subscription books reviews.,.soci.d scieswas cimtion quotation is not from this early article, but from the interview. The afitcla, however, makes clear Dr. Mer. index, 1973 annual... The BookIist 71(12)624-27, 15 ton’s attitude on the sociometric and retrieval potential Febmsry 1975, of citation indexing, and was indirectly quoted in the 7. Stekstbsck H B. The quast for certsinty; the papsr cited in refermw 5 almve. ScienceCitation Index. Science 14S 142, 1964,

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