The field of nanotechnology, much like the rest of scientific research, has seen an exponential increase in the number of research papers available. Keeping up to date with the latest relevant research can present a challenge. One way to stay informed could be searching journals in the area of nanotechnology or signing up for email alerts. However, this process can be tedious. In response to this challenge, Springer Nature launched Nano, an online database and indexing service.
Nano is a Nature Research solution which has curated over 250,000 profiles around nanomaterials and related devices. It allows users to easily search key nanoscience data, methodologies, and literature. Nano gathers data from high impact journals and patents and its data has been curated by experts in the field to assure users of its quality. This database helps users focus on answering the questions they have as opposed to trying to sift through various journals’ table of contents. Nano has the added benefits of
- Allowing users to pinpoint the information they need without first having to read the full text
- Making it easy to find and visualize the methods used to prepare nanomaterials and devices
- Combining information on similar nanomaterials from many different sources into one profile and
- Containing links to the original research so scientists can get even more relevant information.
In its original form, Nano was providing a much-needed service to the research community. However, Springer Nature has been working with UNSILO, an artificial intelligence company, to make Nano even better. In addition to the manually curated profiles of nanomaterials and devices, Nano will now automatically include indexed data from over 400,000 research papers focusing on nanotechnology from all over the globe. The pool of journals from which this data is drawn includes leading titles from Nature Research, BioMed Central, Springer, AAAS, Elsevier, and Wiley. This new capability relies on UNSILO’s Text Intelligence, machine learning tools that were originally trained on the complete set of Springer Nature scientific research papers.
The partnership between Nature Research and UNSILO has facilitated a significant increase in the breadth of data available to scientific researchers who use Nano. According to William Chiuman who is the Director of Product Management at Springer Nature, using artificial intelligence to expand Nano’s database became necessary to help keep pace with the advancements in nanotechnology. In particular, the partnership with UNSILO will allow Nano to provide the most current information to researchers as well as vastly increase the amount of data Nano curates. He also stated that the Nanoscience and Technology team at Springer Nature continues to seek out additional innovative ways to add value for Nano’s users.