Scientific exchange is increasingly shifting to the Internet. Today, online literature and citation databases are important tools for scientific work, e.g. for exchanging information or investigating the current state of the art on a topic. Due to the large number of literature and citation databases that exist, and the limited amount of time available for a search, it is necessary to choose few or even only one database. In this paper, we carry out a comprehensive comparison between Web of Science and arXiv. We compile a list of criteria for the comparison of these resources based on a literature analysis. Finally, 62 documents were found that dealt with comparisons between literature databases. Based on these comparisons, a concept matrix was created according to Webster & Watson (2002), in which the criteria for the comparison were summarized. These criteria were then integrated into an adapted version of the criteria catalogue for the comparison of software packages from Jadhav & Sonar (2009) in order to provide a comprehensive picture, not only of content aspects, but also of functionality and usability issues. Based on these criteria, the Web of Science and arXiv databases were compared. The main results can be summarized as follows: arXiv covers only a limited number of disciplines and has a strong focus on physics, mathematics and computer science. Web of Science covers significantly more subject areas and generally includes significantly more papers, which in contrast to arXiv all come from peer-reviewed journals. arXiv's biggest advantage is the topicality of the articles, since preprints are also accepted and thus the peer-review process can be bridged. Both databases are intuitive to use and have a similarly good simple search, but Web of Science’s advanced search gives an experienced user much more possibilities to refine searches and to formulate distinctive queries. In general, Web of Science offers significantly more possibilities to conduct comprehensive literature searches due to the additionally stored citation data and corresponding analysis functions. arXiv, on the other hand, is particularly well suited to learn about the latest state of the offered disciplines.

2021 ICoASL : 7th International Conference of Asian Special Libraries ; November 24, 2021, National Library of Korea, Seoul, South Korea, p. 55