Windows Live Academic is now in beta. We currently index content related to computer science, physics, electrical engineering, and related subject areas. Academic search enables you to search for peer reviewed journal articles contained in journal publisher portals and on the web in locations like citeseer.
Academic search works with libraries and institutions to search and provide access to subscription content for their members. Access restricted resources include subscription services or premium peer-reviewed journals. You may be able to access restricted content through your library or institution.
We have built several features designed to help you rapidly find the content you are searching for including abstract previews via our preview pane, sort and group by capability, and citation export. We invite you to try us out - and share your feedback with us....
Frequently Asked Questions
Why don't you have content from all fields?
Academic search has launched in a beta version so we can receive feedback from our users - ultimately allowing us to introduce a product that will provide the best possible user experience. We understand that for researchers to have a productive search experience, they need to search a comprehensive index in their field of study. Therefore, we decided to launch our beta version with journal content from Computer Science, Engineering (mostly electrical and electronics), and a good selection of Physics journals. We believe that our deep index in these chosen fields will serve the needs of our users well, so they can give us the feedback we need to improve the search experience. After launch, we will add content in phases from more subject areas. Our goal is to have the most comprehensive, largest academic index possible.
How do you determine relevance? Are you using citation counts in the relevance ranking?
We are determining relevance based on the following two areas, as determined by a Microsoft algorithm: [1] Quality of match of the search term with the content of the paper, [2] Authoritativeness of the paper. Currently, we are not using citation count as a factor in determining relevance. Among the many reasons that led us to this decision was the fact that we wanted to have an accurate and credible citation count to be used in the relevance ranking. User trust of the relevance ranking algorithm requires a very credible, trusted citation count, and we will revisit the inclusion of Microsoft derived citation count in the relevance ranking algorithm at a later date as our technology improves further....
What about open source repositories? Do you have content from them in your index?
Academic search has implemented the Open Architecture [sic] Initiative (OAI) protocol for indexing OAI-compliant repositories. For example, we indexed the content present in ArXiv.org for the launch. We will continue to index more repositories after the launch....
Have you implemented OpenURL?
Yes. We have implemented functionality that utilizes the OpenURL standard. You will be able to click on the link to your library Open URL resolver to determine the availability of full text access....
What is your commitment to improving this product?
Microsoft believes that the academic community is of high importance. We have several initiatives where we are working with and helping to address the needs of the academic community. Consistent with this practice, we are committed to continuing to invest in improving Academic search.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
