Variations in content and format of ISI databases in their different versions: The case of the Science Citation index in CD-ROM and the web of science

The CD-ROM and web versions of the Science Citation Index databases are compared as to their content and format features. Several differences have been detected such as the use of different punctuation marks in both versions and a different organisation of author's affiliation data. These differences make automatic comparisons of ISI products difficult and they should be considered when matching both databases. Some recommendations to ensure more normalisation and reliability of data are pointed out.