Alerts are automated email notifications you create to deliver new content as it becomes available in ProQuest. There are two kinds of alerts that you can create:
- Search alerts — notify you when new documents that match your search are available.
- Publication alerts — notify you when new issues of a selected publication are available.
Create or modify a search alert
Both the Create alert and Modify alert popups contain the following steps and associated fields—the descriptions here assume that you are signed into a My Research account.
Step 1—Review search details
- Name this alert: The name can include alphabetic and numeric characters, as well as spaces and special characters.
- Searched for: Reflects the search you performed. Your alerts will be based on that search.
Important to know — When you modify an alert, an Edit search query link displays alongside your Searched for terms in the Modify alert popup. Click the link to display the search page where you created the search, with your original terms and any limiters, such as the Full text checkbox selected, shown. Change your search terms and limiters, then click Update alert to modify the search your alert is based on. Optionally click Search to see a results list first. You can then click the Update alert link on the results page to update the search.
- Limited by: Any limiters you applied to the search, such as Full text andPeer reviewed, display here.
- Databases: Reflects the databases selected when you ran your search. If your search ran against multiple databases, click the View list/Hide listlink toggle to show or hide the database list. If you want the search to run against different databases, run a new search, select different databases, and create a corresponding new alert.
Step 2—Define your alert email
- Send to: The email address associated with your My Research account displays here.
- Also send to: Enter one or more email addresses, separating each with a comma or semicolon. You cannot send to multiple addresses unless you are signed into My Research.
- Subject: Enter a subject for your message. The subject will display on theSubject line of the alert email you receive. If you do not enter a subject, your search terms will display as the email subject.
- Message: Optionally enter a message of up to 250 characters. The message text will display in your alert email.
- Format: Select HTML (the default), or Plain text.
Important to know — If you change your Preferred email formatpreference in My Research to Text only, that setting will override the default HTML setting here.
Step 3—Define your alert content
Include search details: Do you want the following information included in your alert?
- Any name you gave the alert
- Your search terms
- Any limiters you applied.
- The databases you searched
Include:
- Newly published documents only (default) — As content becomes available in ProQuest, your scheduled alert will deliver new articles and other content from currently published sources.
- Newly added documents, including historical items — As content becomes available in ProQuest, your scheduled alert will deliver articles and other content from currently published sources, as well as from historical sources that are no longer publishing.
Step 4—Schedule your alert
Send: Specify how frequently ProQuest should run your alert.
If you choose to receive alerts weekly, you can also specify the day of the week that your alerts is sent.
Stop after: Specify when you no longer want to receive the alert.
Important to know — You will receive an alert renewal reminder when your alert is about to expire. The reminder email will present you with the same options listed above, allowing you to extend the alert. The reminder also provides you with the option to delete the alert.
Creating an alert without a My Research account
When you are not signed into a My Research account:
- You can send the alert to a single email address only.
- You cannot modify the alert once you create it.
- You will receive an alert renewal reminder when your alert is about to expire. The reminder email will present you with the same options listed above, allowing you to extend the alert. The reminder also provides you with the option to delete the alert.
What you can do with the documents you receive in an alert email
Alert emails deliver the list of documents found since the alert last ran—that match the search that you set the alert on, against the databases selected when you ran the search. Each document in the list can contain one or more links to ProQuest. If you are not already in ProQuest, you may be prompted to log in before an item displays.
For any document listed in your alert email:
- Click the title to open the document in ProQuest. The best available format(for example, Full text) will display.
- Listed documents may have corresponding formats—such as Brief citation or Full text—displayed beneath the title. Different formats provide varying levels of document detail. Click one of these icons to display the document.
- Click View all search results to run the search and return the most current list of results in ProQuest.
- Click Do more with documents in this alert to display the list of documents in the alert on the Selected items page in ProQuest. A prompt will display, asking whether you want to include only the alert documents on yourSelected items page, or add them above any existing items you’ve added to the page while searching during your current session. The Selected items Help topic details what you can do with documents in your list.
Important to know — Content from the ebrary e-books database will not be included in alert emails or RSS delivery at this time.
Publication alerts
Publication Search provides a way for you to find specific publications, such as newspapers or magazines, and browse individual issues. When you browse or search for a publication, and it’s available, you can click the publication title to display a page that provides details about that publication.
Click the Create alert link to define your publication alert details. After responding to an email from ProQuest to confirm the email address you provided, your alert is activated.
Managing your alerts in My Research
You can view and manage all of your alerts when you are signed into your My Research account. If you don’t have an account, check out the benefits.
Click the Alerts tab at the top of your My Research page. The Alerts page displays a single list of any search or publication alerts that you’ve created. By default, your alerts are listed in the order you created them, with your newest alert listed first.
You can:
- Delete alerts — Using the checkbox at the top of the list, or the individual checkboxes corresponding to each alert, select one or more alerts. Then click Delete selected alerts to permanently delete them. Alternatively, click the Delete link corresponding to a specific alert.
- Modify alerts — Click the link corresponding to a listed alert to modify the details you specified when you created it.
- View latest results, or latest issue contents — Use these links to retrieve either a current search results list (for a search alert), or the current issue’s contents list (for a publication alert).
- Extend an alert that is expiring soon — A notification displays with a listed alert that is due to expire soon. Click the extend your alert link in the notification message to select from a range of extension options.
- Sort your alerts - By default, your alerts are listed in the order you created them, with your newest alert listed first. Use the Sort by panel on the right to sort your alerts by:
- Date (most recent first)
- Date (oldest first)
- Alert name (A-Z)
- Alert name (Z-A)
