Getting Better Results with Web of Science

A guide to Web of Science and some of its features.

Finding Systematic Review Articles in Web of Science

Web of Science doesn't have specific limiters to sort out systematic review articles from other literature reviews. You may use the phrase "systematic review" AND your search terms and retrieve some of what you seek. They have some other document types, listed below, that may be useful, such as review or 'data paper'. 

Document types in Web of Science

https://images.webofknowledge.com/images/help/WOS/hs_document_type.html

Article: Reports of research on original works. Includes research papers, features, brief communications, case reports, technical notes, chronology, and full papers that were published in a journal and/or presented at a symposium or conference.

Abstract of Published Item: Bibliographic-only data on a published paper. Generally finds records dating back to 1974 or before.

Art Exhibit Review: Reviews of gallery or museum showings of artworks.

Bibliography: A list, often with descriptive or critical notes, of writings relating to a particular subject.

Biographical-Item: Obituaries, articles focusing on the life of an individual, and articles that are tributes to or commemorations of an individual.

Book: A monograph or publication written on a specific topic.

Book Chapter: A monograph or publication written on a specific topic within a main division in a book.

Book Review: A critical appraisal of a book (often reflecting a reviewer's personal opinion or recommendation) that evaluates such aspects as organization and writing style, possible market appeal, and cultural, political, or literary significance.

Chronology: A review of events on a specific topic or subject in their order of occurrence in time.

Correction: Correction of errors found in articles that were previously published and which have been made known after that article was published. Includes additions, errata, and retractions.

Correction, Addition: Correction of errors found in articles that were previously published and which have been made known after that article was published. Includes additions, errata, and retractions.

Dance Performance Review: Reviews of solo dance recitals, complete dance productions, dance programs consisting of several works, and other types of performed dances.

Data Paper: A scholarly publication describing a particular dataset or collection of datasets and usually published in the form of a peer-reviewed article in a scholarly journal. The main purpose of a data paper is to provide facts about the data (metadata, such as data collection, access, features etc) rather than analysis and research in support of the data, as found in a conventional research article.

Database Review: A critical appraisal of a database, often reflecting a reviewer's personal opinion or recommendation. Refers to a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system.

Discussion: An article or paper that discusses questions in an open and usually informal debate. Generally finds records dating back to 1996 or before.

Early Access: An article that has been electronically published by a journal before it has been assigned to a specific volume and issue. 

Editorial Material: An article that gives the opinions of a person, group, or organization. Includes editorials, interviews, commentary, and discussions between individual, post-paper discussions, round table symposia, and clinical conferences.

Excerpt: A selection from or a fragment of a literary or musical work, which cannot stand as a separate work in its own right.

Fiction, Creative Prose: Includes short stories and other works of creative prose.

Film Review: A review of a motion picture.

Hardware Review: A critical appraisal of computer hardware, often reflecting a reviewer's personal opinion or recommendation. Refers to objects that you can actually touch, like disk drives, keyboards, printers.

Item About An Individual: A review of the work(s) of a celebrated person in a particular field of study.

Letter: Contributions or correspondence from the readers to the journal editor concerning previously published material.

Meeting Abstract: A general summation of completed papers that were or will be presented at a symposium or conference.

Meeting Summary: A paper that covers multiple meeting abstracts in a variety of subjects.

Music Performance Review: Review of a live musical performance (recital, concert, and opera).

Music Score: Transcript of the original and entire draft of a musical composition or an arrangement with the parts for the different instruments or voices written on staffs one above another.

Music Score Review: Review of a bound musical composition or bound collection of musical compositions.

News Item: News, current events, and recent developments.

Note: A paper that mentions or remarks on a published paper on a specific subject. Generally finds records dating back to 1996 or before.

Poetry: Compositions in verse; metrical writing.

Proceedings Paper: Published literature of conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions in a wide range of disciplines. Generally published in a book of conference proceedings.

Records covered in the two Conference Proceedings indexes (CPCI-S and CPCI-SSH) are identified as Proceedings Paper. However, the same records covered in the three indexes (SCI-E, SSCI, and A&HCI) are identified as Article when published in a journal.

Record Review: Reviews of recorded music or speech.

Reprint: An article that was previously published.

Retracted Publication: An article that has been withdrawn by an author, institution, editor, or a publisher because of errors or unsubstantiated data.

Retraction: A public notice that an article should be be withdrawn because of errors or unsubstantiated data.

Review: A renewed study of material previously studied. Includes review articles and surveys of previously published literature. Usually will not present any new information on a subject.

Script: includes film scripts, plays, TV, and radio scripts.

Software Review: A critical appraisal of computer software, often reflecting a reviewer's personal opinion or recommendation. Refers to programs, procedures, and rules, along with associated documentation pertaining to the operation of a computer system.

Theater Review: Review of a performed play.

TV Review, Radio Review: Reviews of television and radio broadcasts.

TV Review, Radio Review, Video Review: Reviews of television, radio broadcasts, and videos.