Web of Science Researcher Profiles are created based on an industry leading algorithm using article metadata from the Web of Science Core Collection. No algorithm will ever be 100% correct, therefore there are multiple ways for profiles to be corrected to achieve optimal accuracy.
Merging Researcher Profiles
The Web of Science Profiles system is based on the foundation of one profile for one author. There are many reasons why multiple profiles co-exist. The system itself can produce multiple profiles. Researcher may also create multiple profiles through creating new profiles even if a profile already exists. If multiple researcher profiles contain publications by the same author, the ‘Merge records’ option can be used to combine all or some of the publications into one profile.
How to Merge Multiple Profiles into a Unique Profile
- Sign in to your Web of Science account.
- Perform a search for the profile name and the researcher search results page, tick the checkbox of each researcher profile containing publications by the same author. Then click Merge records.
- Tick any publications that are not written by this author and click Remove. These will be removed from the merged researcher profile. The publications can be refined by author name, journal, and/or institution to help make the process easier. Removed publications are visible in the Remove tab. If none need to be removed, proceed to the next step.
- Proceed and submit your request.
- Requests are reviewed by our team of editors. You will receive an email to confirm receipt of your request and another to confirm whether the change has been accepted.
Important: If the profiles that need to be merged are claimed, then a separate process to merge accounts needs to be initiated by the profile owner.
Important: Changes to researcher profiles take 3-5 days after acceptance to be visible in Web of Science. Please do not submit duplicate merge requests during this time.
Remove publications for a single researcher profile
- Sign in to your Web of Science account.
- Navigate to the researcher profile and click Remove publications.
- Tick any publications that are not written by this author and click Remove. These will be removed from the researcher profile. The publications can be refined by author name, journal, and/or institution to help make the process easier. Removed publications are visible in the Remove tab.
- Proceed and submit your request.
- Requests are reviewed by our team of editors. You will receive an email to confirm receipt of your request and another to confirm whether the change has been accepted.
Important: Changes to researcher profiles take 3-5 days after acceptance to be visible in Web of Science. Please do not submit duplicate merge requests during this time.
Viewing a combined Researcher Profile
You can use View combined record to temporarily view a combination of two or more researcher profiles. This does not merge the records permanently. Use the merge and remove workflows to permanently correct researcher profiles.