Keeping Current: Journal Alerts

Article databases will often let you set up email alerts when articles matching your search criteria are published. Below are a few databases specializing in science and engineering that cover a broad range of publications.

Web of Knowledge: includes Web of Science, BIOSIS Previews, CAB, INSPEC, and Zoological Record. Saved searches and alerts require free registration.
» Saving your search and setting alerts (video)

Scopus: alerts require free registration.

PubMed: requires free registration through My NCBI.
» Guide to setup/edit alerts

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.
» Guide to setup/edit alerts

Compendex: alerts require free registration. Covers all engineering topics.

Google Scholar: alerts require a Google account.
 

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 journals also broadcast new content on Twitter or via RSS feeds.

Consolidated Journal Alerts

JournalTOCs is a free service that provides access in one place to the most recent tables of contents for over 12,000 scholarly journals. Alerts can be emailed or sent to an RSS feed. 

Individual Journal Alerts

Popular journals in science and engineering:

• American Chemical Society Journals: sign up for e-mail alerts or subscribe to RSS feeds.
• American Institute of Physics: each journal has its own Table of Contents ("TOC") alert.
• BioOne New Issue Alert: if you're a new user, register to be taken to the alerts page.
• BioMed Central: Register and then click the "My e-mail alerts link".
• Elsevier ScienceDirect Alerts: if you're a new user, select "Register Now." Complete the registration, then select "Alerts" from the top navigation bar.
• HighWire Press: register for a free account, then select "Alerts" from the top navigation bar.
• IEEE Xplore: register for a free account, then select "Alerts" from the top navigation bar.
• Nature: register for a free account, then sign up for an E-alert.
• Oxford University Press: each journal home page has an "Alerting Services" section on the lower right-hand side.
• PLoS (Public Library of Science): journal content alerts are available via e-mail or RSS feeds. Scroll down to the section entitled Journal "RSS feeds."
• PubMed: E-mail Alerts for Articles from Your Favorite Journals (movie, 3mm).
• Science Magazine: click on "E-Mail Alerts" or "RSS Feeds."
• Springer: click on "Alerts" in left sidebar.
• Wiley Interscience: register and then use "My Profile."

Tip: Use UC Library Search's Journal Search to locate the journal's home page.