Web of Science vs ProQuest Central

Web of Science9.4Visit ProQuest Central9.3Visit

Higher score Web of Science #1 in Academic Research Databases 9.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Web of Science

vs

ProQuest Central #2 in Academic Research Databases 9.3/10 Pricing on request ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit ProQuest

• Web of Science fits best

  Institutional citation indexing

• ProQuest Central fits best

  Comprehensive institutional research access

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Side by side

Feature	Web of Science 9.4/10 Visit ↗	ProQuest Central 9.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	9.3
Ranking	#1 in Academic Research Databases	#2 in Academic Research Databases
Best for	Institutional citation indexing	Comprehensive institutional research access
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	Pricing on request	Pricing on request
Free plan	—	Not checked yet
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Live chat, Phone, Email, Docs	Docs
Integrations	4 integrations	2 integrations
Built for	Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Web of Science 5/5 · ProQuest Central 5/5
Full-text access	✓	✓
Advanced search	✓	✓
Theses and dissertations	✓	✓
Conference proceedings	✓	✓
Institutional access	✓	✓
Specs
Subject coverage	Multidisciplinary	Multidisciplinary
Content types	journals, conference proceedings, scholarly books, dissertations, theses, preprints, datasets, grants, patents	scholarly journals; trade and professional titles; newspapers; magazines; dissertations; working papers; case studies; market reports; conference papers
Our review
Pros	Covers journals, books, conferences, theses, datasets, grants, and patents Supports Boolean, proximity, fielded search, and citation tracking Connects with EndNote, OpenURL, library catalogs, and ORCID	Full-text coverage across multidisciplinary scholarly journals Includes dissertations, reports, newspapers, and conference papers AI-assisted research with ProQuest Research Assistant
Cons	Subscription pricing requires contacting sales There is no free plan Full-text access depends on holdings, subscriptions, or open-access links	Pricing follows a contact-sales model Web access only Designed for institutional rather than open access
Our verdict	Web of Science is a subscription-based academic research platform from Clarivate for researchers, students, librarians, administrators, and institutions. Its scope spans sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, with records… Read the review →	ProQuest Central is a multidisciplinary academic research database for students, faculty, researchers, and libraries. It brings together full-text scholarly journals with dissertations, working papers, conference papers, case studies,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Web of Science — where it wins

  • Covers journals, books, conferences, theses, datasets, grants, and patents
  • Supports Boolean, proximity, fielded search, and citation tracking
  • Connects with EndNote, OpenURL, library catalogs, and ORCID

  Where it doesn't

  • Subscription pricing requires contacting sales
  • There is no free plan
  • Full-text access depends on holdings, subscriptions, or open-access links

• ProQuest Central — where it wins

  • Full-text coverage across multidisciplinary scholarly journals
  • Includes dissertations, reports, newspapers, and conference papers
  • AI-assisted research with ProQuest Research Assistant

  Where it doesn't

  • Pricing follows a contact-sales model
  • Web access only
  • Designed for institutional rather than open access

• Web of Science9.4/10 · Pricing on request

  A broad citation index for institutions that need structured scholarly discovery and tracking.

  Visit Web of ScienceFull verdict →
• ProQuest Central9.3/10 · Pricing on request

  Broad institutional access to scholarly, professional, and research content.

  Visit ProQuestFull verdict →