Keeping Current

There are several services and technologies that can help you keep up-to-date with the scientific literature.

Contents:
E-mail Alerts from Article Databases
Keeping Up-to-date with Your Favorite Journals
RSS Feeds
    - RSS in General
    - Database RSS feeds
    - Journal RSS feeds
    - ticTOCs: Journal Table of Contents Service
    - RSS feeds to Keep up-to-date on Grants

E-mail Alerts from Article Databases

Web of Knowledge: includes Web of Science, BIOSIS Previews, CAB, INSPEC, and Zoological Record.
» E-mail alerts guide: HTML | PDF | movie (approx. 3mm:00ss)

PubMed: requires registration through My NCBI.
» E-mail alerts guide: HTML | movie (4mm:00ss)

CSA Auto Alerts: includes Agricola, Aquatic Science and Fisheries Abstracts, BioOne, Earthquake Engineering Abstracts, Engineering Materials Abstracts, Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management, GeoRef, and other interdisciplinary databases.
» Quick Guide: HTML | PDF

Keeping Up-to-date with Your Favorite Journals

Having tables of contents e-mailed directly to you as new issues are published can be a good way to keep up with a particular journal. Many electronic journals offer this service, which you can usually find by looking for "alerts" on the journal's home page. You may need to register to activate alerts.

Tip: Use our Electronic Journal Titles A-Z database to locate the journal's home page.

RSS Feeds

RSS feeds provide the ability to keep track of frequently updated, web-based content without having to continually check the website for new material. RSS aggregators (or readers) allow you to subscribe to RSS feeds from any website that offers them. Many readers are available, including both desktop readers like FeedDemon for Windows and web-based readers like Google Reader. This functionality is also built into the FireFox and Safari browsers.

RSS in General

» Introduction to RSS: an introduction to RSS with instructions on setting up Google Reader
» Using Google Reader (movie, approx. 3mm:30ss)

Database RSS feeds

Journal RSS Feeds

Many electronic journals offer this service, so look for the RSS feed icon. Registration may be required.

Tip: Use our Electronic Journal Titles A-Z database to locate the journal's home page.

Publishers that offer feeds include American Chemical Society, AIP, Cambridge University Press, IEEE, JAMA, Lancet, Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, Oxford University Press, and Science.

ticTOCs: Journal Table of Contents Service

ticTOCS is a free service that provides access in one place to the most recent tables of contents for over 12,000 scholarly journals. Contents lists may be exported to other feed readers (e.g., Google Reader). It also provides links to the full text of thousands of articles, with institutional or personal subscriptions.

RSS Feeds to Keep Up-to-date on Grants

Use RSS to keep current on potential grant opportunities.

Page owner: Bette Anton