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    1.1 - What is the ADS?

    This service provides access to three databases containing more than 8 million abstracts: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics and Geophysics, and the arXiv.org preprints in Astronomy. Users can use one of the available query forms to submit queries by author, object name, date range, words in the title, and words in the abstract text. The resulting list of bibliographic records is ranked by how closely each record matched the query. From this list, users can obtain on a record by record basis all the information available about a particular bibliographic entry (including the bibliographic code, title, authors, author affiliations, journal reference, publication date, category, comments, origin, keywords, and abstract text when available).

    1.1.1 - Use of the ADS

    Terms and Conditions for Use of the NASA Astrophysics Data System

    Use of the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) services implies that the User has read and agrees to the following terms and conditions:

    • Full-text articles and abstracts of papers available from the ADS databases are copyrighted by the respective publishers and are subject to all applicable copyright protection under the laws of the United States and other countries. The reproduction of full-text articles or abstracts requires express written permission from the publisher.

    • Individual users may download, store and print copies of such abstracts and articles for personal use only and provided that such copies are not sold or redistributed.

    • Users may not perform systematic downloads of articles, abstracts, or tables of contents for any purpose, whether commercial or not, without the written permission of the ADS. This includes indiscriminate, mass downloads of search results and the use of robots.

    • The ADS makes reasonable efforts to ensure that the contents of its archives are accurate. However, the ADS does not guarantee the completeness, accuracy or usefulness of its databases and search interfaces. The ADS is not to be considered liable for any delay, downtime, or other failure of performance in providing its services.


    If you wish to acknowledge the services provided by the ADS in a publication, kindly use a phrase such as the following:

    This research has made use of NASA's Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services.



    1.1.2 - User Privacy

    The ADS respects the privacy of its users. The following describes our policy.

    1.1.2.1 - Server Logs

    As you travel through the ADS web site, our server logs the following information about your session on the site:

    • Your computer's IP address (an IP address is a number that is assigned to you by your internet service provider).
    • The type of browser and operating system used to access our site.
    • The date and time you access our site.
    • The pages that you visit.
    • If you came to our website using a link from a different web site, the address of that website.
    • The cookie that the ADS may have set up for you (see below).

    We use this information from our server logs to learn about our visitors as a group, not about you as an individual. We also use the information to generate important statistics required by our funding sources. These records are kept only for the purpose of maintaining and improving services on our site, and are never shared with any other entity.

    1.1.2.2 - Cookies

    A "cookie" is a unique identifier that a Web site places in your computer's hard drive for future reference. The ADS uses cookies to allow customization of our site's features on a user-by-user bases. For instance, the implementation of the ADS preference settings makes use of cookies.

    Additionally, cookies offer a mechanism allowing us to track the sequence of documents that a particular user retrieves from our site, without having any knowledge of the user's identity, and without requiring any form of user ID or password assignment. Again, this information is being collected only for the purpose of providing better service to our users. This permits, for instance, the creation of the "Also-read" article links, allowing users to see articles which were also read by people who read a given article.

    Please note that our site does not require visitors to have cookies enabled in their web browsers. However, be reminded that some features of our system won't be available to you if you choose to configure your browser not to use cookies.

    1.1.2.3 - Future Changes

    The ADS reserves the right to change this policy at any time. If we make material changes to our privacy policy, these changes will be posted on this page.





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