Mathematical Reviews

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Mathematical Reviews is a journal and online database published by the American Mathematical Society that contains brief synopses (and occasionally evaluations) of many articles in mathematics, statistics and theoretical computer science. Selected reviews (called "featured reviews") are also published as a book by the AMS.

The journal began publication in 1940. The goal was to give reviews of every mathematical research publication. As of 2000 the Mathematical Reviews database contained information on over 1.5 million articles. The authors of reviews are volunteers, usually chosen by the editors because of some expertise in the area of the article. It and the German journal Zentralblatt für Mathematik are the only comprehensive resources of this type. Often reviews give detailed summaries of the contents of the paper, sometimes with critical comments by the reviewer and references to related work. When it is not possible to give independent reviews the author's summary may be quoted. When a work is in an unusual language only bibliographic information may be given.

In 1980, all the contents of Mathematical Reviews since 1940 were integrated into an electronic searchable database. Eventually the contents became part of MathSciNet which, along with reviews also has citation information. Mathematical Reviews and MathSciNet have become an essential tool for researchers in the mathematical sciences.

Both Mathematical Reviews and Zentralblatt für Mathematik use the Mathematics Subject Classification codes for organising their reviews.

[edit] External links

• Mathematical Reviews database with access to the online search function for the database (for subscribers), and link to information about the service, such as the following:
  1. Mathematical Reviews editorial statement outlines the mission of Mathematical Reviews;
  2. Mathematical Reviews guide for reviewers is a useful resource both for reviewers and users of Mathematical Reviews.
• Some interesting reading about Mathematical Reviews. Two articles published for the 50th anniversary of MR in 1990.
• Exceptional MathReviews collected by Kimball Martin and sorted by amusement factor.