Citation alerts are useful to follow the literature linked to important papers. They can help identify the body of work forming around a particular topic by monitoring references to key works. Authors may wish to monitor citations to their work to inform research and publishing decisions.
The databases Web of Science and Scopus offer citation tracking and alert options. You may have access to these through any university affiliation.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar can be used to track article and author citations. You will need to log into a Google account to use these functions.
Article citation
- Find the article you want to find in Google Scholar.
- Click on Cited by below the item.
- Click on Create alert in the left hand sidebar.
- Confirm your preferred email then click Create Alert button
Author citation
Author's citations can only be tracked of the author has created a Google profile.
- To find the author profile click the Google Scholar logo at the top left of screen.
- Select Profiles from the options that appear.
- Search and identify the author
- Click on the author.
- Click the Follow button near the top of screen, to the right of author profile.
Caution:
- This function of Google Scholar depends on author's linking articles to their profile so may not be up to date.
- Citation numbers reflect when articles are added to Google Scholar, not their publication date.
