Science.gov - Frequently Asked Questions

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Science.gov - Frequently Asked Questions</title> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta name="description" content="Science.gov is a gateway to government science information provided by U.S. Government science agencies, including research and development results."> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles/main.css"> <link rel="icon" href="/images/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <script> function scrollToTop(){ if (document.documentElement.scrollTop > 200) { document.getElementById("backToTop").style.setProperty('right', '0px'); } else { document.getElementById("backToTop").style.setProperty('right', '-100px'); } } </script> <style> /* NAV HIGHLIGHTING */ ul.menu > li:nth-child(1) > a{ text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-color: #88bd3a; text-decoration-thickness: 3px; text-underline-offset: .25em; } main section{ margin-bottom: .5em; } main section > h2{ font-size: 1em; display: block; width: 100%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f0f0f0; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; color: #000; cursor: pointer; } main section > h2:hover{ background-color: #dfe1e2; } main section h2 span.add{ float: right; } main section h2 span.remove{ display: none; float: right; } main section h2 span.material-symbols-outlined{ font-size: 120%; line-height: 1.3em; } main section > div{ padding-left: 1em; } main section > div.hidden{ display: none !important; } main section > div.visible{ display: block !important; } main section:has(div):has(.hidden) span.add, main section:has(div):has(.visible) span.remove{ display: inline-block; } main section:has(div):has(.visible) span.add, main section:has(div):has(.hidden) span.remove{ display: none; } #accordian nav{ text-align: right; } #accordian nav a{ margin: .5em; } </style> <script> function toggleAccordian(e){ let div = e.parentElement.getElementsByTagName('div')[0]; if (div.classList.contains("hidden")) { div.classList.remove("hidden"); div.classList.add("visible"); } else { div.classList.add("hidden"); div.classList.remove("visible"); } } function openAll(){ let divs = document.getElementById('accordian').getElementsByTagName('div'); for (var i = 0; i < divs.length; i++) { divs[i].classList.add('visible'); divs[i].classList.remove('hidden'); } } function closeAll(){ let divs = document.getElementById('accordian').getElementsByTagName('div'); for (var i = 0; i < divs.length; i++) { divs[i].classList.add('hidden'); divs[i].classList.remove('visible'); } } </script>  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-PL8SK8Q34R"></script> <noscript></noscript> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-PL8SK8Q34R'); </script> <noscript></noscript> </head> <body onscroll="scrollToTop()"> <noscript>Some elements on this page will not display correctly without Javascript.</noscript> <header id="top"> <div id="official-site-container"> <input id="how-you-know" type="checkbox"> <div id="official-site"> <img src="/images/us_flag.png" alt="US Flag">An official website of the United States government <label for="how-you-know">Here's how you know <span class="material-symbols-outlined expand_more">expand_more</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined expand_less">expand_less</span></label> </div> <div id="official-site-info"> <section> <img src="/images/icon-dot-gov.png" alt="dot gov icon"> <div> <div><strong>Official websites use .gov</strong></div> <div>A <strong>.gov</strong> website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.</div> </div> </section> <section> <img src="/images/icon-https.png" alt="https lock icon"> <div> <div><strong>Secure .gov websites use HTTPS</strong></div> <div>A <strong>lock ( <span class="material-symbols-outlined lock">lock</span> ) or https://</strong> means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.</div> </div> </section> </div> </div> <div id="banner-container"> <h1>Science.gov</h1> <div id="logo"><a href="/index.html"><img src="/images/SciGov_logo.webp" alt="Science.gov logo"></a></div> <nav> <label for="hamburger"><span class="material-symbols-outlined menu">menu</span></label><input type="checkbox" id="hamburger"> <ul class="menu"> <li><a href="/about.html">About Science.gov <span class="material-symbols-outlined expand_more">expand_more</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined expand_less">expand_less</span></a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li><a href="/faq.html">FAQs</a></li> <li><a href="/help.html">Help</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="/Open-Science-Public-Access.html">Open Science & Public Access <span class="material-symbols-outlined expand_more">expand_more</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined expand_less">expand_less</span></a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li><a href="https://open.science.gov/" target="_blank">Open Science Announcements</a></li> <li><a href="/Public-Access-Plans-Guidance.html">Public Access Plans & Guidance</a></li> <li><a href="/Submissions-Public-Access.html">Submissions for Public Access</a></li> <li><a href="/servicesandtools.html">Services for Public Access Collections</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="/Scientific-Integrity.html">Scientific Integrity <span class="material-symbols-outlined expand_more">expand_more</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined expand_less">expand_less</span></a> <ul class="sub-menu"> <li><a href="/Scientific-Integrity-Policy.html">Policies</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </header> <div id="search"> <div id="search-box"> <form id="search_form" action="https://www.science.gov/scigov/search.html" method="POST"> <input type="search" id="fullRecord" name="fullRecord" placeholder="Search for authoritative federal science information" required><button class="search-btn" type="submit"><span class="material-symbols-outlined search">search</span></button> <div id="search-link"><a href="https://www.science.gov/scigov/desktop/en/search.html">Advanced Search</a></div> <label for="fullRecord" class="accessibility">Search</label> </form> </div> </div> <main> <h2>Frequently Asked Questions</h2> <div id="accordian"> <nav><a href="#" onclick="openAll(); return false;">Open All</a> | <a href="#" onclick="closeAll(); return false;">Close All</a></nav> <section> <h2 onclick="toggleAccordian(this)" id="faq_1">What is Science.gov? <span class="material-symbols-outlined add">add</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined remove">remove</span></h2> <div class="hidden"> <p>Science.gov is a U.S. government website providing a search tool for finding scientific and technical information from across top <a href="https://www.cendi.gov/members.shtml" target="_blank">U.S. federal agencies</a>.</p> </div> </section> <section> <h2 onclick="toggleAccordian(this)" id="faq_2">What does Science.gov contain? <span class="material-symbols-outlined add">add</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined remove">remove</span></h2> <div class="hidden"> <p>Search results may include scientific and technical reports, peer-reviewed scholarly publications, e.g., accepted manuscripts and journal articles, digital data, software, conference presentations and proceedings, and other scientific and technical information that federal agencies publish as a result of their research investments. Additionally, Science.gov provides key information in support of <a href="https://open.science.gov/">Open Science</a> which provides users with access to open science initiatives, engagements, and policies in response to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) declaration of 2023 as a Year of Open Science; and in response to the 2022 and 2013 Whitehouse memos for <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08-2022-OSTP-Public-Access-Memo.pdf" target="_blank">Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research</a> (August 25, 2022) and <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf" target="_blank">Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research</a> (February 22, 2013). For more information about these activities and policies, see the <a href="/Open-Science-Public-Access.html">Open Science & Public Access</a> page.</p> </div> </section> <section> <h2 onclick="toggleAccordian(this)" id="faq_3">How does the search work? <span class="material-symbols-outlined add">add</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined remove">remove</span></h2> <div class="hidden"> <p>Science.gov simultaneously searches the selected sources using federated search. That is, Science.gov simultaneously launches and distributes user queries to multiple databases and other sources, then aggregates, ranks and displays top-level results from all sources. Each result contains a title including a link to the full information, an indication of relevance to the search query (indicated by blue stars <img src="images/star_btn_sm.png" style="vertical-align: baseline;" alt="star icon"> where more stars indicate greater relevance), an information snippet, and a link to the host agency.</p> <p>Unlike some third-party search engines that search only the surface web, Science.gov drills down into the deep web, which contains a vast amount of scientific and technical information. For assistance with questions about how to search Science.gov, please see the <a href="/help.html">Help</a> page.</p> </div> </section> <section> <h2 onclick="toggleAccordian(this)" id="faq_4">How is Science.gov governed? <span class="material-symbols-outlined add">add</span><span class="material-symbols-outlined remove">remove</span></h2> <div class="hidden"> <p>Science.gov is governed and supported by CENDI, an interagency working group of senior scientific and technical information managers. The CENDI.gov and Science.gov websites were developed and are maintained by the <a href="https://www.osti.gov/" target="_blank">U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information</a>, a unit of the Office of Science, in partnership with CENDI. For more information, visit the <a href="http://www.osti.gov/" target="_blank">OSTI.GOV</a> and <a href="https://cendi.gov/" target="_blank">CENDI</a> websites.</p> </div> </section> </div> </main> <a id="backToTop" href="#top"> Top </a> <footer> <nav> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/sitemap.html">Site Map</a></li> <li><a href="/members/index.html">Members Only</a></li> <li><a href="/website-policies.html">Website Policies</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.energy.gov/vulnerability-disclosure-policy" target="_blank">Vulnerability Disclosure Program</a></li> <li><a href="/contact.html">Contact Us</a></li> </ul> <div class="small">Science.gov is maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy's <a href="https://www.osti.gov/" target="_blank">Office of Scientific and Technical Information</a>, in partnership with <a href="https://www.cendi.gov/" target="_blank">CENDI</a>.</div> </nav> </footer> </body> </html>

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Science.gov - Frequently Asked Questions