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Paper Alerts

What is a paper alert and why should I use them?

Paper alerts are automated notifications that inform you when new research papers matching your interests are published. They can be set up through databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, bioArxiv or journal websites. They help you stay current with the latest findings without having to manually search each time.

How do I set up paper alerts?

bioArxiv (for unpublished, unreviewed papers):

  1. Go to bioRxiv.org and click the Alerts / RSS link (top menu).
  2. On the Alerts page choose Sign up for e-mail alerts (first link under ALERTS heading). This will send you an email when a new paper is released with your keywords or author search.
  3. You can alternatively follow sub-topics (like bioinformatics, systems bio, cell bio, etc.) on social media. For example, on X, a new post is made for each new paper. Some find this to be a good option to avoid having too many emails
  4. You can also follow specific preprints by clicking a button at the top of the page for that preprint.

Google Scholar:

  1. You can follow specific authors by going to their profile and clicking follow.
  2. You can get alterts for a specific topic by searching that topic and then, on the left-side menu, you can hit the envelope icon that says "create altert". You will get a separate email for each alert you set up.

NCBI/Pubmed:

  1. Create an account
  2. Run a search for a topic of interest
  3. Click "Create altert" which should be just below the search bar
  4. Customize by choosing frequency of alerts etc.
  5. You can manage your alterts by going to Dashboard-> Saved Searches

arxiv:

  • This is the general Arxiv that has e.g. CS papers that are more general than biology applications. This could be useful if you are in the dry lab since many papers aren't published in journals for CS.

  • Note, if you make alerts for something broad like "artificial intelligence"

  • Create an account and go to User Settings -> Email Notifications

  • You can choose the frequency at which you want to receive alerts.

Other:

You can use Google's NotebookLM to generate a short podcast about a paper to listen on the go, or if you absorb information better via sound. Note that the podcast can sometimes make big claims ("protein localization has been solved!") so take what it says with a grain of salt.

If you want to stay updated with big science news and interesting discoveries, you can sign up for things like Nature Briefing and Science Adviser newsletters which give a daily digest. Other journals likely have similar newsletters.