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3. Update on Faculty of
1000
Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of reading your
research requires you to do? Feel your Medline skills
aren't good enough to help you locate important current
papers outside your area of expertise? You're not
alone. A recent study shows that while scientists
are reading more journal articles than ever before,
they are not increasing the amount of time they spend
at this task. New tools are beginning to emerge to
help scientists cope with the changing conditions
of the digital age, and the Faculty of 1,000
may be among the most helpful.
Since its inception in 2002, the Faculty of 1,000
has built a loyal following among researchers. These
scientists have found it particularly useful for locating
papers from subject areas adjacent to their main area
of interest. Unlike standard indexes (such as Medline
or Biological Abstracts) which simply list new papers
as they are published, the Faculty of 1,000
is a self-described "insider's guide" to
the biological sciences, and contains brief reviews
of current papers. Reviews are written by over 1,600
scientists commenting on the most recent interesting
papers they have read that month. Reviewers tag their
comments with a ranking based on how important they
think each paper is: "Must read," "Recommended
reading," and "Exceptional." Papers
are also classified as "New finding," "Technical
advance," "Interesting hypothesis,"
"Important confirmation," and "Controversial
finding."
There are other novel ways of approaching the biological
literature through Faculty of 1,000. It is
possible to view the top 10 papers as ranked by reviewers
in various subject categories. Another approach is
to look at the records viewed most often by users.
You can access papers classified as "Hidden Jewels;"
important articles published in less widely read journals.
Finally, if you find one reviewer particularly helpful
to your needs, it is possible to look at all their
reviews.
With no end in sight to the growth of scientific
literature, the Faculty of 1,000 can be a very
useful tool for finding your way through the biological
literature.
For more info see the Faculty of 1000 about
page
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