Are you looking for a way to stay on top of new research in your field or on a particular topic? Consider setting up an email alert in one or more research databases that you search regularly. Email alerts are messages sent after every weekly database update that contain any new records matching a saved query. To create alerts, most databases require that you register or set up a personal account. Registration in research databases is free and it’s a good idea to set up an account anyway, as you may want to take advantage of other features available to you when you are signed in.

It’s as simple as signing in, plugging in your search and then on the results page, clicking on “Create Alert” (or some variation on that, depending on the database). You will now receive an email each time new content matching your search is added to the database. Compendex, the premier research database for engineers, has a “Create Alert” option and this is what the button looks like:

Once you click on it, the alert is created, and if you want to remove it, you click on “Remove Alert”. If you need help, click on the “help” button at the top of the page (most, if not all, databases have a help button). These help pages are very well organized and within the table of contents, look for the topic about creating and working with email alerts.