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How to Use Database Alert Services

How to set up tables-of-contents and search alerts, and stay up-to-date in your field!

TOC Alert Instructions - for Databases by Vendor

  1. Connect to the EBSCO databases that has your journal in it (here's a list)
  2. Register for a free MyEBSCOhost account by clicking on the "Sign In" at the top-right, and the "Create one now" on the next page; then sign in to your MyEBSCOhost account.
  3. Browse publications alphabetically or search by title using the "Publications" tab at the top of the page in the purple bar
  4. Click on the title of the journal you would like to receive a table of contents alert for
  5. Click on "Share" button on the right, and then the "Email alert" button.
  6. Decide on the format, content, and duration of the alert, adding your email address to the form; use the "advanced" settings if necessary.
  7. Click "Save alert"
  8. Note: you will receive a confirmation email.
  9. Keep track of all your Journal Email Alerts in your MyEBSCOhost folder.
  1. Connect to the Gale database that has your journal in it (here's a list) 
  2. Click on "Publication Search" to locate periodicals of interest. 
  3. Click on the title of the journal you would like to receive a table of contents alert for
  4. On the right, click on "Create Journal Alert" 
  5. Decide on the format and frequency of the alert
  6. Click "Submit"
  7. Note: you will receive a confirmation email. 
  1. Connect to the Proquest database that contains your journal (here's a list) 
  2. Register for a free My Research account, then sign in to your My Research account.
  3. Browse publications alphabetically or search by title using the "Publications" tab at the top of the page
  4. Click on the title of the journal you would like to receive a table of contents alert for
  5. Click on "Create alert" at the top of the page, underneath the "Publication Information" banner
  6. Decide on the format, content, and duration of the alert
  7. Click "Create alert"
  8. Note: you will receive a confirmation email. Follow the instructions given in the email.
  1. Go to the PubMed database
  2. Register for a free account: Click "Sign in to NCBI" at the top-right, and then find "Register for a NCBI account" at the bottom of the page
  3. Navigate to the advanced search page (it will say "PubMed Advanced Search Builder" at the top of the page)
  4. Select "Journal" from the "All Fields" drop down menu
  5. Enter keywords to find a journal of interest
  6. Click Search
  7. Click on "Create Alert" at the top of the page, underneath your search bar
  8. Name the search, decide its schedule, the preferred format and the number of items to display
  9. Click Save at the bottom of the page
  10. To view your active alerts:
    1. Select "My NCBI" at the top right corner of the page
    2. Your alert will be listed in the "Saved Searches" box

Another Option: JournalTOC

JournalTOCs is a Current Awareness Service (CAS) where you can discover the newest papers coming directly from the publishers as soon as they have been published online. It provides a convenient single "one stop shop" interface to these TOCs.

JournalTOCs is for researchers, librarians, students and anyone who's looking for the latest or most current papers published in the scholarly literature with international coverage. It is a free service for individual users.

JournalTOC includes alerting for many open access journals. However, JournalTOC will not always link you directly to the full-text of the articles. For those full-text articles, use our databases or article interlibrary loan. 

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