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          • Alerting services – RMIT University databases
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          • Alerting services: Search engines
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          • Pre-print and open archives

Staying current with your research

If you need to stay up-to-date with research in your area, there are number of useful tools and resources available to you. These include alerting services, discussion lists and pre-print archives.

Alerting services

Electronic alerting services provide you with current information on your area/s of research or interest. They are an excellent way to keep informed of the latest research information without spending too much time. They are available from subscription databases (RMIT University students and staff only), publishers’ web pages and other web resources such search engines.

Types of information that can be received or accessed include journal Table of Contents, article alerts (based on a saved search), citation alerts, book alerts, web site alerts and bulletins or digests. Alerts are sent to you by email or by accessing customised web-pages. Initially you need to register and set up a personal profile.

Discussion lists

These are an important way of tapping into what is currently happening in your area of research or interest. It allows you to follow and contribute to current discussions. There are many available to choose from on the web and are joined by subscribing.

Pre-print and open archives

Pre-print/e-print resources on the web allow access to articles before publication and generally after they have been submitted for publication and undergone a peer review process. They are in the broad areas of the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Pre-prints available on the web are known as e-prints. Pre-print publications are also found in some RMIT University subscription databases. Open archives may also include document types not intended for print publication. The purpose of pre-print and open archives is to offer free access to documents to a wide audience. They can be a cost effective method of sharing and disseminating research. Open archive search engines allow simultaneous searching across a number of open archives. They are a valuable tool for locating free scholarly resources.