Where mathematicians read, ask and publish

A practical guide to the websites, communities, databases, journals, societies and tools that mathematicians use and follow: what each one is, whether it needs a login, and how to take part.

1. How logins work

Not every website requires an account. There are four kinds of access, marked in the tables with these symbols:

Symbol	Kind of access	What to do
	Free, no login	Just open the website.
	Free personal account	Sign up, preferably with your institutional e-mail: many websites use the university domain to confirm a research affiliation.
	Institutional access	The website is paid, but universities subscribe to it. Access works through the university network, VPN or institutional login (in Brazil, through the CAPES Journal Portal; see section 14).
	Paid	Membership fee or subscription, almost always with a student discount.

Tip: use a password manager (the browser's own is fine) and keep all your identifiers in one place: ORCID, Google Scholar, Scopus, MathSciNet…

2. Where to start: a checklist

A suggested order, from most important to optional:

• ORCID: create your permanent researcher identifier.
• Institutional access: test access to paid databases from off campus.
• Google Scholar: create a profile and set up alerts.
• arXiv: create an account and subscribe to the daily listing of your categories.
• zbMATH Open and MathSciNet: check whether an author profile already exists.
• MathOverflow and Math.SE: create a Stack Exchange account.
• Journal alerts: choose three or four journals in your research area.
• ResearchGate: create a profile (optional).
• Societies: consider membership (discounts on meetings and books).

3. Academic identity

Profiles that identify a researcher and gather their work.

Website	What it is	Access	How to take part
ORCID	A unique, permanent researcher identifier (a number like 0000-0002-…). It avoids confusion between similar names and is requested by journals at submission and by funding agencies.		Sign up under Register, add education and affiliation, and authorize the connection with Scopus, Web of Science and other systems so that publications are added automatically.
Google Scholar	Article search and researcher profiles with citation counts.		Under My profile, create a profile with a Google account, confirm your institutional e-mail and add your publications. Alerts (the envelope icon) e-mail you new papers on a topic or by an author.
ResearchGate	Academic social network: profile, publications, followers and a Q&A section.		Sign up with an institutional e-mail. Follow researchers and share versions of your papers when the journal allows it.
Academia.edu	Similar to ResearchGate, more popular in the humanities.		Optional.
Web of Science Researcher Profiles	Author profile in the Web of Science database (Clarivate). It replaced Publons and also records peer reviews done for journals.	+	The profile is free; full database search requires institutional access.
Scopus Author ID	Author identifier in the Scopus database (Elsevier), created automatically from your first indexed publication.		Nothing to create: after your first paper, search for your name, check the data and link the profile to ORCID.
Mathematics Genealogy Project	The family tree of mathematics: who advised whom, going back centuries.		After the PhD defense, submit your data through the website's form.

4. Databases and literature search

Website	What it is	Access	How to use it
arXiv (math)	The preprint server: almost every mathematics paper appears here before (or besides) the journal. Categories follow the subject areas, for example math.AP (analysis of PDEs), math.DS (dynamical systems) and math.FA (functional analysis).	to read · to submit	Reading is free. To receive new papers by e-mail every day, subscribe under Help → Subscribe. Submitting requires an account, and first-time submitters to a category may need an endorsement from someone who already publishes there.
MathSciNet	The American Mathematical Society database: reviews of almost every mathematics paper, with author profiles and citations.	/	Through your university network. Author search shows your MR Author ID.
zbMATH Open	The European counterpart of MathSciNet, free since 2021. Supports formula search and search by MSC classification.		No account needed. Errors in an author profile can be corrected through a form.
Web of Science	Multidisciplinary database with citation indexes and journal impact factors.		Useful to find out who cited a paper.
Scopus	Elsevier's multidisciplinary database, with journal and author metrics.		Also shows citations and author profiles.
OEIS	The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.	· to contribute	Type the first terms of a sequence and find out what it is.
nLab	A wiki for advanced mathematics (categories, topology, mathematical physics).		Free to read.

Predatory journals: be wary of journals not indexed in the databases above and of e-mail invitations to publish "quickly" for a fee.

5. Questions, answers and discussion

Website	What it is	Access	How to take part
Mathematics Stack Exchange	Questions and answers about mathematics at any level.	to read · to take part	Follow tags you care about and answer questions: it is the best way to earn reputation (which unlocks privileges) and to practise mathematical writing.
MathOverflow	Research-level questions, answered by many well-known mathematicians.		Uses the same Stack Exchange account. Read How to ask first: questions should be precise, with context and references.
Lean Zulip	Chat of the Lean proof formalization community.		Create an account and join the #new members channel.

6. Mathematicians' blogs

All free to read. To follow them, use "Follow" (WordPress), e-mail subscription or an RSS reader.

7. Outreach and history

Website	What it is	Access	How to follow
Quanta Magazine	The reference in mathematics and science journalism.		Subscribe to the free newsletter.
MacTutor	History of mathematics and biographies of mathematicians.		Free to read.
3Blue1Brown	Animated videos explaining mathematical ideas.		Subscribe on YouTube.
Numberphile	Short videos with mathematicians explaining curious topics.		Subscribe on YouTube.

8. Journals

How to follow a journal: on the journal's website, look for "Sign up for alerts", "Table of contents alerts" or "RSS" to receive the contents of each new issue by e-mail. This usually needs a free account with the publisher (Springer, Elsevier, Wiley…). Full texts usually require institutional access .

General and most prestigious

Analysis, PDE and dynamical systems

Community news

Journal	What it is	Access
Notices of the AMS	The AMS magazine: accessible articles, news and opportunities.
Bulletin of the AMS	Survey articles on major areas of mathematics.

9. Societies, institutes and prizes

Institution	What it is	How to take part
AMS — American Mathematical Society	The largest mathematical society in the world.	Membership with a student discount; much content is free.
SIAM — Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics	Applied mathematics, PDE and scientific computing.	Membership with a student discount.
EMS — European Mathematical Society	The European mathematical society.	Optional.
IMU — International Mathematical Union	Organizes the ICM, the International Congress of Mathematicians (every four years), where the Fields Medal is awarded.	ICM lectures are available on video.
Abel Prize	One of the most important prizes in mathematics, awarded every year.	Announcements and laureate lectures.

Brazilian societies and institutes are listed in section 14.

10. Lectures, schools and events

Place	What it offers	Access
IAS — Institute for Advanced Study	Recorded lectures and seminars.
IHÉS	Lectures and courses from the French institute on YouTube.
SLMath (formerly MSRI)	Workshop videos; summer schools by application.	/ application
ICTP — Trieste, Italy	International schools and workshops, often with financial support for researchers from developing countries.	Application for each activity
Mathematics Calendar (AMS)	Worldwide calendar of mathematics conferences.

11. Social networks for mathematicians

Network	What it is	How to take part
Mathstodon	A Mastodon community for mathematicians, with LaTeX support. Several well-known mathematicians, such as Terence Tao, post there.	Create an account and follow researchers you are interested in.

12. Tools

Tool	What it is for	Access
Overleaf	Writing LaTeX online, with collaboration and GitHub integration.
GitHub	Version control for texts and code, websites, and automatic PDF builds.
Zotero	Managing references and generating BibTeX bibliographies.	/ to sync
SymPy and SageMath	Symbolic computation in Python, to check computations.
Lean and mathlib	Computer-verified proofs, a fast-growing field.
Detexify	Draw a symbol and find its LaTeX command.

13. Stack Exchange communities

They all use the same account: once you have one, just click Join on each community.

14. For researchers in Brazil

Website	What it is	Access	How to take part
CAPES Journal Portal	The gateway to paid journals and databases (Web of Science, Scopus, MathSciNet and others), subscribed by the federal government for universities.		Click Acesso CAFe, choose your university and sign in with your institutional login. It also works off campus.
Lattes Platform (CNPq)	The official research CV in Brazil, required in graduate programs and funding calls.		Keep it up to date and add your ORCID in the dedicated field.
Qualis CAPES / Sucupira Platform	The Brazilian journal ranking (A1, A2, …), used to evaluate graduate programs.		Check it before choosing where to publish.
IMPA — Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada	The country's leading mathematics research institute.		Summer programs, events and many lectures on YouTube; host of the Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium.
SBM — Brazilian Mathematical Society	The national mathematical society.		Members get discounts on meetings and books.
SBMAC — Brazilian Society of Computational and Applied Mathematics	Organizes CNMAC, the annual applied mathematics congress.		Membership with a student discount.
CAPES and CNPq	The federal funding agencies (scholarships and grants).		Registration through Lattes and each call's system.