Faculty & Graduate Students

Many databases allow you to set up alerts so that you're notified whenever an article is cited, whenever an article is available that meets your search criteria, or whenever a new journal becomes available.  For these services, you need to have an account/profile in the database.

Several types of alerts are available:

• Citation Alert:  To receive notification when a specific article is cited in another work.
• Search Alert: To automatically look for your search terms on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
• Journal Alert (or, Table of Contents Alert): To have the newest table of contents of a specific journal delivered to you as it becomes available.

Many databases allow you to set up alerts so that you're notified whenever an article is cited, or whenever an article is available that meets your search criteria.  For this service, you need to have an account/profile in the database.

Web of Science Citation Alerts: to get references citing an individual article

          1. Find the article and click "Create Citation Alert" - you will be notified whenever that article is cited

          2. Add additional citation alerts as needed. Your alert will be listed under "My Tools" / "Saved Searches & Alerts"

          3. Be sure to renew citation alerts -- they only last for 1 year from date of set up

Web of Science Saved Search Alerts:  to get references citing a particular author

            1. Perform a cited reference search

            2. Click the "Search History" tab. Then, "Save History / Create Alert" - you will be notified when that author's works are cited

            3. Be sure to renew saved search alerts -- they only last for 6 months from date of set up

Google Scholar Citation Alerts

            1. Find the article and click "Cited by ##"

             2. On left column, click "Create Alert"

             3. Google Scholar Email Alert Tips

Search for a topic in one or more databases and then save that search to be automatically run on a regular schedule.  When new items are found that match your search, you will be sent an e-mail message or a new entry will appear in your RSS feed.  Below are instructions for selected database providers.

• EbscoHost: Creating a Search Alert

  How to create, edit, delete, and view a search alert.

• EbscoHost: Saving a Search History

  How to save searches, retrieve and reuse them, and print them as needed.

• ProQuest: Creating Search Alerts

  Create a search alert to notify you when there are new articles that match your search query.

• PubMed: Saving and Managing Searches

  Includes instructions for Setting Up Automatic E-mail Updates, Changing the E-mail Schedule of Your Updates, Running Saved Searches and Checking for New Results, Sorting Searches, Modifying a Search Query, and Deleting a Search.

• SciFinder Scholar: Keep Me Posted Alert

Create alerts to help you stay up-to-date with developments in your field, citations, and patent activities.

You can be notified when a new issue of a particular magazine or journal publication comes out.  An e-mail message will be sent or new entries will appear in your RSS feed. 

• Browzine 

  Coverage varies by Journal (Restricted to ODU)
  Enables faculty, staff and students to browse, read and monitor many of the University Libraries’ scholarly journals.

• JournalTOCs

  Journal TOCs is a free Current Awareness Service (CAS) where you can discover the newest papers coming directly from the publishers as soon as they have been published online.

• EbscoHost: Creating a Journal Alert

  How to create, edit, delete and view Journal Alerts.

• EbscoHost: One-Step RSS Search Alerts

  How to set up One-Step Alerts as a quick and easy way to obtain the alert syndication feed, which can then be copied into an RSS reader.