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| Book impacts can be difficult to measure using conventional citation tools. Tools like Web of Science and Scopus primarily track journal articles and include fewer book citations in their impact metric counts. As a result, assessing the impact of a scholarly book requires combining quantitative and qualitative indicators from multiple sources. Books more often receive citations from other books and non-indexed sources. They may also be reviewed in scholarly and non-scholarly outlets, held in numerous libraries, or mentioned on social media. These measures can provide useful information around influence, visibility, and uptake. |
Tools Quick Access
Key Considerations
- Book impact is not easily captured through standardized metrics.
- Assembling evidence requires more manual searching, interpretation, and judgment.
- Qualitative indicators are often more meaningful than citation counts.
- Impact should be understood within disciplinary and scholarly norms.
Measurements Explained
Citation tools like Web of Science and Scopus capture some citations to books, especially if the book is frequently cited across disciplines (e.g., The Origin of Species). However, coverage is uneven and limited to content indexed by the database. Expect substantial underrepresentation, especially for newer or field-specific works.
- Use the Cited Reference Search feature rather than the basic search.
- Enter the author’s last name and initials in the Cited Author field and the book title (or part of it) in the Cited Work field.
- Review and select variations of the citation to capture all possible references.
- The results will show journal articles that cite the book, along with citation counts.
Note: Citations to books may be inconsistently formatted, so it is important to check multiple variants.
- Enter the book title in quotation marks in the Document Search bar.
- If the book appears in the database, click on it to view its details.
- Use the “View Cited By” option to see a list of citing documents, mainly journal articles.
For more information on the various document-level metrics available through these platforms, see the Article Impact portion of this guide.
Books are often cited by other books, especially in disciplines where monographs are a primary form of scholarly communication. Because these citations are not well indexed in traditional citation databases, identifying them requires using tools that search full text or bibliographic references.
With Google Books you can search for in-text mentions of the book in other published books:
- Use Google Books Advanced Search
- Enter the book title in "with the exact phrase"
- Set Search: to All books and Content: to Books
Note: Google Books searches character strings, not formal citations, so you’ll need to inspect each result for context. Mentions may be passing references, bibliographic listings, or substantive citations.
Google Scholar shows all formats of citing works, including articles, theses, and some books. Search the book title in quotation marks and click "Cited by". Google does not disclose its coverage, and there is overlap with but not full inclusion of Google Books content. You will need to review the Cited by list to ensure all citations are legitimate.
Summon, the UBC Library’s general search tool, indexes the full text of many ebooks as well as metadata from books available only in print. You can use it to identify books that mention or cite another book, even if that citation is not formally indexed.
Search the book's title in quotations in the general search bar and filter the results to Book/eBook. Beyond the book itself will be listed books where the full text of the title appears. Much like with Google Books, this search will pull up textual mentions, which will not necessarily be citations. You will have to check each mention to see the context.
The number of libraries that hold a book can reflect its distribution, adoption, and perceived value by the collection's curators. High holdings can suggest widespread relevance or uptake, however it is not necessarily a reflection of readership.
Search WorldCat, a global catalogue of library holdings, to see how widely a book is held by academic and other libraries worldwide. You can also check a relevant national library catalogue for regional coverage.
- Go to WorldCat.org and enter the full title in quotation marks in the main search bar. Add the author name if needed to narrow the results.
- Click on a result that matches your book. Then select “View all editions and formats” to see different versions (e.g., paperback, e-book, translations).
- For each edition, the record will show how many libraries own a copy. This appears in the “Find a copy in the library” section. Click “More libraries” to view the full list.
- Tally the number of libraries across relevant versions to estimate the book’s total library reach.
Book reviews can provide qualitative insight into a title’s reception, influence, and scholarly relevance.
Enter the title of the book in quotation marks in the general search bar on the library homepage, then filter by:
- Peer Reviewed
- Content Type → Book Review
Consider tone, placement, and source of the review, not just quantity.
See Book, Theatre, and Film Reviews: Book Reviews for more book review sources.
Altmetrics (e.g., social media, blog posts, policy citations) may help surface public engagement or disciplinary conversation, especially for books that receive media attention or are used in public scholarship. Tools like Altmetric or PlumX may track mentions through the DOI or ISBN.
For more information see the Alternative Metrics portion of this guide.
