Access to Web of Science will end on 1 January 2026
The 木瓜福利影视 Library has decided not to renew its licence for access to the citation database (including Journal Citation Reports). This means that, as of 1 January 2026, UU staff, UMC Utrecht staff and UU students will no longer have access to Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports.
Why are we discontinuing Web of Science, including the Journal Citation Reports?
Discontinuing Web of Science is a logical step that fits in with the UU vision on Open Science. Closed commercial databases, such as Web of Science, are not in line with our desire to work with open research information as much as possible. The UU signed the Barcelona Declaration in 2024 to this effect.
The use of Journal Impact Factors is also not in line with our vision of Open Science. At UU, we recognise and reward research and researchers based on the quality of their research, not on the impact factor of the journal in which the researcher published. Or on the number of publications and citations.
With the funds freed up by not renewing the licence, we will continue to invest in open source research and infrastructure.
What does this mean for you as a user?
From 1 January 2026, as an employee Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 or UMC Utrecht, or as a UU student, you will no longer be able to use Web of Science. You will also no longer be able to use your personal account and will no longer have access to your search history.
Do you use Web of Science and have important saved search history or specific search queries that you want to keep? If so, please copy them to another document and/or transfer them to another search engine before 1 January.
What alternatives are there to Web of Science?
Where can you go with questions?
For questions about alternatives to working with Web of Science for your specific purposes, please contact the university library at library@uu.nl.