This article aims to present and discuss scientific methods with a longitudinal focus, to better understand some dynamics about scientific production with Brazilian participation in the Web of Science (WoS). Continuing the mission of the Observatory on Science, Technology, and Innovation (OCTI), this paper presents different techniques to analyze the characteristics of the main thematic domains identified in the research of national institutions. The Observatory presents the concepts of timelines and supertimelines for the representation of knowledge in a time chain and also introduces the concept of strategic diagram, which can detect driving and ascending themes in national production.