The Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics Librarian

Dr. Henrik Spoon

Physics, Astronomy & Mathematics Librarian

h.spoon@cornell.edu

Physical Sciences Library
293 Clark Hall

Mathematics Library
420-B Malott Hall

 

Top Mathematics Journals

Top mathematics journals sorted by mathematical citation quotient (MCQ):

If your university does not subscribe to these journals, most articles will be available in preprint format on arXiv, along with other preprints dating back to the 1990s. See below.

MathSciNet: search for math journal articles

MathSciNet is a database from the American Mathematical Society (AMS) that contains 3.6 million items, covering ~650 math journals and other publications  This database is licensed through Cornell University Library and connects you to online versions of several mathematical resources.

To access MathSciNet you may visit this link: https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet/, or access it via the Cornell library catalog https://resolver.library.cornell.edu/misc/2787682.

Trouble deciphering math journal abbreviations? Go to the "journals" tab on the main search window and find out there.

Use this link to request help from MathSciNet, or send me an email.

MathSciNet is not a free resource and may not be available at your university. Web Of Science may be a good alternative if your university pays for (see the Physics tab for details). If not, choose Google Scholar, which a free search engine that also focuses on scholarly literature.

Finding the lastest research on arXiv

Almost every mathematician wants to get his/her results disseminated as quickly as possible. Some even seek comments or input on draft versions of their manuscript ! The ideal platform for all of  this is the preprint server arXiv, which is freely accessible to all.

To search preprints in the field of mathematics, go here: https://arxiv.org/search/math

Given the staggering number of daily submissions to MATH (~150 in 2023), it is not doable to stay on top of all the research that is produced. This is why subfields have been defined in MATH. For a full list of subfields see https://arxiv.org/archive/math

To receive a daily mailing of newly submitted articles in MATH (~150 in 2023) or one of its subfields, please follow the instructions posted here: https://arxiv.org/help/subscribe.

If your home institute does not have subscriptions to specialized mathematics journals, chances are high that you can find the preprint of an article you are looking for in arXiv. In most cases the content is exactly the same.

Finding inroads in a new field of research

How do you make inroads into a new field of mathematics?

Find relevant journal articles:

  1. Ask your advisor to suggest journal articles to read. Or:
  2. Do a MathSciNet search on a Mathematics Scientific Classification (MSC) keyword of your choice to find relevant articles. For e.g. 'combinatorics' enter 'MSC primary' code '05' as the MathSciNet search term. Then sort the search results by 'citation count' to find the most important articles. Read the titles and abstracts of these articles to find the best matches to your interests.

Read the introduction section of the articles you selected. This is where the authors lay out what is known about the topic of their research before their research was done. It is a great way to find other relevant articles to read.

 

Recommended Readings for Math Majors

Based on the recommendations of the faculty and graduate students in the Math Department and of the staff and tutors of the Math Support Center, we have compiled a list of Recommended Readings for Math Majors. The list of 180+ titles can be found here: https://mathematics.library.cornell.edu/recommended-books/