Access to Web of Science will end on 1 January 2027

20 April 2026

The University of Groningen (UG) and the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) will cancel their licence for the Web of Science database with effect from 1 January 2027.

Why this decision?

This decision was taken after careful consideration. The main reasons are: 

Costs: the licence for Web of Science is relatively expensive.
Overlap: the content and functionalities overlap significantly with other databases that the UG and UMCG continue to offer.
Open research information: UG, UMCG and other universities are increasingly committed to open and transparent research information (Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information). Maintaining multiple commercial databases with overlapping content is not consistent with this approach.

What does this mean in practical terms?

As of 1 January 2027:

Web of Science is no longer accessible via UG and UMCG
personal accounts, search history and saved search strategies will also be deleted
access to Journal Citation Reports (impact factors) will cease.

Are you currently using Web of Science? Make sure to save relevant data and search strategies in good time. Are you using Web of Science for an ongoing systematic review? If so, please plan any necessary updates to your Web of Science search before 1 January 2027.

Alternatives for Web of Science 

There are still some good alternatives available, depending on the purpose of your research:

Systematic reviews  
Scopus is a suitable alternative to Web of Science for literature reviews. Other databases, such as PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC, PsycINFO and CINAHL, will also remain available as usual.
You will find them in the overview of all E-resources or the overview databases medical sciences.

Open alternatives  
OpenAlex and The Lens provide access to extensive, freely available collections of academic information and are suitable for a variety of research purposes. However, these databases are less suitable for systematic literature reviews.