Discussion Overview
The discussion revolves around the terminology used for research papers in mathematics and the resources available for finding academic work by mathematicians. Participants explore various platforms for accessing mathematical papers, including preprints and journal publications.
Discussion Character
- Exploratory
- Technical explanation
- Conceptual clarification
Main Points Raised
- Some participants suggest that research papers are referred to as "papers," "publications," or "journal articles" in mathematicians' jargon.
- One participant notes that arxiv.org hosts a significant number of preprints and historical documents, but there is no single catalog for all mathematical papers ever published.
- Another participant claims that arXiv has nearly complete coverage for mathematics papers, with everything published also uploaded there, often prior to formal publication.
- Access to MathSciNet is mentioned as a resource that some universities provide for students, which may aid in finding mathematical literature.
- Participants discuss MathSciNet and zbMATH as standard resources for journal publications, with zbMATH recently becoming open access, although neither provides a comprehensive list of all journal publications.
Areas of Agreement / Disagreement
Participants generally agree on the usefulness of arXiv for accessing preprints and the existence of MathSciNet and zbMATH as resources for journal publications. However, there is no consensus on a single comprehensive source for all mathematical work, and some uncertainty remains regarding the accessibility of certain papers due to copyright issues.
Contextual Notes
Limitations include the lack of a complete catalog for all mathematical papers and the dependency on specific titles for finding original works. Additionally, some papers may be behind paywalls due to copyright restrictions.