Science.gov Alerts Help

Want to sign up for Science.gov Alerts?

To receive weekly alerts on your science topic(s) of interest, first set up an account by selecting the Alerts link from the top menu on the Science.gov front page.

Set up an Account

Choose the Create New Account link on Alerts page. On the Create New Account page, create a user name, a password (at least 6 characters), and provide your e-mail address. Then select . You will receive an e-mail to confirm your information. To activate your account, you must validate your information by clicking on the e-mail link.

Create an Alert

• Log in to your account. This will take you to your Personal Alert Archive page.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Select at the bottom of your Personal Alert Archive page

On the Create Science.gov Alert page, fill in your terms. See Alerts Search Tips below. Select the sources you want to search or select search All. To select specific databases, click on the + sign next to a subject category. Select to begin receiving a weekly alert on your topic of interest.

Select image for larger view.

Alternatively:

• If you have already run a search from your search results page, select Create Alert from this Query. Your query automatically becomes a weekly alert once you log in.
  

Note: If you create an alert from a query without having established an account, you will be directed to the Create an Account page.

When you create a query at Science.gov, up to 35 relevant results from each of your chosen sources are displayed in the weekly Alert email. More than 35 relevant results will be in your Personal Alert Archive if available.

Your Alerts Arrive by E-mail

• You will receive weekly alerts by e-mail of new postings on your topic(s) of interest. You can link directly to the document from your e-mail, or link to Science.gov Alerts and log in to view your alerts.
  
  
• The alert system will archive six weeks of your search results. From this Personal Alert Archive you can review past results, edit your alert profile, delete an alert, change your password, change your e-mail address and cancel your service.

Alerts Search Tips

• There is no need to include "and" between terms.  By default, pages are returned that include all of your search terms.  Frogs toads will return results with both frogs and toads included
  
  
• Boolean – combine terms using “or”, “not”   For example, frogs or toads will return results with either or both words, frogs not toads will return results with frogs but not toads
  
  
• Phrases – to conduct a search as a phrase or as an identical match, place quotation marks surrounding the terms such as "dark energy"
  
  
• Parentheses - use them to establish the preferred search syntax such as (avian or bird) flu
  
  
• Wildcards are generally supported, although a few databases will not process wildcards.  For example, ecolog* will find both ecological and ecology
  
  
• Commas are treated as literal characters, not separators or operators

If You Don't Receive Your Emails

• If you do not receive a confirmation email within minutes of signing up, recheck the submitted information on your new Personal Archive page by logging in and selecting the New Alert button. Correct your email address by returning to your Personal Archive page and selecting the Change Email button.


• If you do not receive an email Alert, your spam filter may be extremely sensitive. If this occurs, log in to your Personal Archive page to view the Alert instead.

Forgot your user name or password?

Select the forgot username or password link on the Login page, and provide your e-mail address in the space provided. You will receive an e-mail with directions for resetting your password.

Want to edit your e-mail address?

From your Alerts Archive page, select the Edit Account Settings button. An e-mail will be sent providing a link to a Web page to confirm the e-mail address change.

Want to delete an alert?

You may delete an alert by logging into your Personal Alert Archive and selecting the delete option next to the alert you wish to delete. You will receive no future notifications on this alert.

Want to cancel your service?

A "cancel service" option is available on your Alert Archive page.

Additional questions may be sent to webmanager@science.gov.

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