Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library: Citation Network Analysis: CNA Tutorial with VOSViewer

Step 1 - Install VOSViewer

For our demo, we will use VOSViewer to execute a basic example of CNA based on a search result from Web of Science. This demo follows the steps of an in-class workshop offered by the King Library.

Download VOSViewer
Download and install VOSViewer.
Java
VOSViewer requires Java, which is available for Windows, MacOS, and other operating systems. Java is free for personal use.

Step 2 - Choose a data source

VOSViewer can import data from many sources, including databases and APIs. For the demo, let's look at some sources that are available to SJSU users and easy to use.

For this demo, we will use Web of Science.

Web of Science (and ESI & JCR)
Web of Science allows users to export 500 items at a time with full citation data.

Here are some other databases that work well with VOSViewer.

Scopus
Scopus allows users to export 2000 items at one time with full citation data.
PubMed
PubMed does not contain citation data, but it can be a useful source of bibliographic data for other kinds of network analysis.

Step 3: Search Web of Science

You can use any of Web of Science's search tools to refine your dataset. For the demo, we suggest, choosing a Web of Science Category (e.g.Psychology) to define the disciplinary boundaries of your search, along with a topic that identifies a particular sub-field or research topic within the discipline.

Step 4: Export Data

Follow the steps below to export data in a format that VOSViewer will recognize:

Sort search results by Citations: highest first (optional, but recommended for the exercise)
Select Export -> Plain Text File
Select Record Content: Full Record and Cited References
Select Records from 1 to 500
Export
A text file will be saved to your Downloads folder

Step 6: Import Data to VOSViewer

Now that you have created your data set, the next step is to import data into VOSViewer - go to the next page to follow along.