Introduction

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up search alerts to notify you when new documents matching your search terms are added to the following databases:

  • EBSCO (Academic Search Complete, Alt-Healthwatch, Business Source Complete, CINAHL Complete, Communications and Mass Media Complete, Computers and Applied Sciences Complete, Education Research Complete, ERIC, MLA Bibliography, PsycInfo, SPORTDiscus)
  • Engineering Village
  • Google Scholar
  • ProQuest (ABI/Inform, Dissertations & Theses, Ethnic Newswatch, Social Sciences Premium Collection)
  • PubMed
  • Scholar OneSearch

Select the tabs below to learn how to set up alerts in your preferred database.

How to Set up Alerts

How to set up search alerts in EBSCO databases

  1. Select the EBSCO database of interest from the Databases list on the library homepage. If prompted, log in your Northeastern username and/or Duo authentication.
    Scholar OneSearch search box. Databases link can be found after the search button, below the search box
  2. Then, create a free EBSCOhost account. An EBSCOhost account is required to create and edit search alerts.
  3. After creating your account, enter search terms related to your topic into the search box on the database homepage and click search.
    EBSCO search for "culturally relevant pedagogy." The search button is located to the right of the search boxes.
  4. Look for the Share button in the right corner above your search results and click on it.
  5. Click on email alert. You will be prompted to sign in to your EBSCOhost account.
    EBSCO search results with the Share button selected. Email alert option is available below the Create an alert heading.
  6. In the form, fill out your email address, the frequency with which you want to receive alerts, and the publication date range. Click Save Alert.

How to set up search alerts in Engineering Village

  1. Select Engineering Village from the Databases list on the library homepage. If prompted, log in using your Northeastern username and password and/or Duo authentication. 
    Scholar OneSearch search box. Databases link can be found after the search button, below the search box

  2. Once you are in the database, click the Create Account link to set up a free account or click Sign In if you already have an account. An Elsevier account is required to create and edit search alerts. 
    Engineering Village homepage. Create account and Sign in buttons are in the top menu bar, at the far right side of the screen.

  3. After creating your account, enter search terms related to your topic in the main search box and click the magnifying glass. 
    Engineering Village search for ("artificial intelligence" or "intelligent computing") and "social media". The search button is located next to the search box on the homepage.

  4. Look for the Create alert button in the left corner above your search results and click on it. 
    Engineering Village search results for ("artificial intelligence" or "intelligent computing") and "social media". The create alert button is above the search results, on the left side of the screen, below the number of records found for the search.

  5. To modify an alert, or to receive alerts of just the recently published documents, click on the Alerts option in the top menu bar. 
    Top menu bar in Engineering Village. Alerts is located after Search history.

  6. In the saved alerts, toggle the recent pub option to on if you only want to receive alerts of recently published documents matching your search terms. 
    Engineering Village alert modification screen showing that Recent pub is turned on for a search alert on "artificial intelligence"

How to set up search alerts in Google Scholar

  1. Navigate to Google Scholar, type in your search terms, and click on the magnifying glass to run the search. 
    Google Scholar search for "critical pedagogy". The search button is located to the right of the search box.
  2. On the left side of your search results, click on the Create Alert link. 
    Google Scholar search results for "critical pedagogy." Create Alert option is located in the left-hand pane at the bottom of the column.
  3. Enter the email address at which you want to receive the alerts and choose the number of results you would like to receive. Click Create alert. 

How to set up search alerts in ProQuest databases

  1. Select the ProQuest database of interest from the Databases list on the library homepage. If prompted, log in using your Northeastern username and password and/or Duo authentication. 
    Scholar OneSearch search box. Databases link can be found after the search button, below the search box

  2. Once in the database, enter search terms related to your topic and click search. 
    ProQuest database search for "antiracist pedagogy." The Search button is located below the search box.

  3. Click on the Save search/alert link at the top right corner of your search results and then click Create Alert. 
    ProQuest search results with the Save search/alert option selected and create alert highlighted from the dropdown menu of options.

  4. Name your alert, provide the email address at which you want to receive the alert and choose the frequency with which you would like to receive alerts. At the bottom of the form, click Create alert.

  5. You will then receive an email about the alert creation. You must click on Yes, I want to receive this alert to activate it.

How to set up search alerts in PubMed

  1. Select Pubmed@NU from the Databases list on the library homepage. If prompted, log in using your Northeastern username and password and/or Duo authentication. 
    Scholar OneSearch search box. Databases link can be found after the search button, below the search box

  2. Then, click on Log in in the upper right corner. 
    PubMed home screen. Log in option is in the upper menu bar, in the top right corner.

  3. Click Sign up to create your free MyNCBI account. This is separate from your Northeastern login. 
    Log in screen for PubMed. The sign up link is located at the bottom of the screen.

  4. Once logged in, type in the search that you want to save and click Search. 
    PubMed search for "healthcare disparities" and race. The Search button is located after the search box.

  5. On the results screen, below the search box, click Create alert. 
    PubMed search results for "healthcare disparities" and race. The save search button is located below the search results box, next to Email.

  6. By default the name of the search will be your search terms. Consider renaming your search to something more useful. 
    PubMed saved search showing the name of the search has been changed to race & healthcare disparities

How to set up search alerts in Scholar OneSearch

  1. Go to the library homepage and type your search into the Scholar OneSearch box. Click on the magnifying glass to run your search.
  2. From the search results screen, click Sign In in the upper right corner to sign into your account with your Northeastern credentials (Sign in is not available to NU London students at this time). 
    Scholar OneSearch results screen for a search for "education theory." Sign In option is located in the top menu bar, in the right corner of the screen next to the Menu link.
  3. Review your search results. If the search seems to be effective and produce relevant results, click Save query at the top of your search. 
    Scholar OneSearch results for a search for education theory. Save query appears as an option above the list of search results, after the number of results displays.
  4. At the top of the page, select Turn on notification for this query in the yellow notification bar that appears. In the pop up box, make sure your Northeastern email is entered correctly and click Save. You will now receive email notifications when new publications matching your search terms are added to Scholar OneSearch. 
    Scholar OneSearch search results for "education theory" displaying a yellow notification bar at the top of the screen. Select turn on notification for this query from this bar to turn on email alerts.