Subscriber Access to the Full Text of Science News Articles

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can register for online access to the full text of Science News articles?

Any current subscriber to the print edition of Science News can register for free online access to the full text of all articles in each week's edition of the magazine. If you have a subscription, all you need is the account number from the mailing label on a copy of the magazine mailed to you.

Which Science News articles are available online?

Registered subscribers have free online access to all articles published in Science News from Jan. 1, 2000, to Sept. 30, 2000, and from Jan. 6, 2001, to this week's issue. Subscribers also have access to an archive of Science News articles, from 1995 to 2000, in pdf format.

How do I register?

Click on the blue "Sign In" button at the left-hand side of the Science News home page. That should take you to a secure page at Kable News, the company that maintains the Science News subscriber database.

Check off the box beside "I am a subscriber and wish to either create or change my user name and password once validated." Enter the first 15 characters of your 16-character account number, as given on the mailing label on your copy of Science News, in the space provided. The 16th character is a check digit and does not have to be included (see the sample label, shown lower down). Click "Submit."

You should now be at a Kable page allowing you to type in a username and password. Once your choices are accepted, you are redirected to the Science News home page or the page at Science News Online from which you signed in.

Why do I see a security alert after I sign in and before I return to Science News Online?

The warning that "you are about to be redirected to a connection that is not secure" simply means that, unlike the validation page at Kable News, the pages at Science News Online are not encrypted for security. Such security is not needed because Science News Online handles no transactions and its database contains no sensitive or personal information.

Please note: You must answer this alert in the affirmative (click "Yes," "OK," or "Continue," depending on your browser) in order to complete the sign in process and be returned to Science News Online with access to all articles.

How can I tell if I have successfully signed in?

Upon your return to Science News Online, the "Sign In" button should no longer be present in the "Subscriber Login" box. Instead you should see "Logged in at:" followed by the time of day and a "Sign Out" button.

When you go to any table of contents page, you should also see links to the full text for every article published that week.

I have signed in, but I don't have access to all the articles, and the "Subscriber Login" box still has a "Sign In" button. Why?

First, make sure you are viewing the "freshest" version of the Web page in question and not the one already stored in your browser's file of previously viewed Internet pages. To do so, click the "Refresh" or "Reload" button. If that produces no change, try doing a "hard" refresh by holding down the "Shift" key while clicking "Refresh." This action bypasses your browser's Internet cache and any cache files at your Internet Service Provider's server and loads the most recent version of that page. If you still do not have access, your browser may be set to reject cookies, as noted below.

We use a temporary cookie (session ID) to signal that you have access to the full text of all articles after signing in. If your browser or Internet security software is set up to reject cookies, you will not have access to the full text of all articles.

You need to change your browser or security settings to allow the use of cookies or make an exception for www.sciencenews.org.

For example, in Norton Internet Security, in the directory Options/Internet Security/Web Content, add www.sciencenews.org to the list at "Global Settings" (de-select defaults and permit all options).

The temporary cookie should disappear as soon as you sign out or close your browser.

Why do you use cookies?

We use cookies as the simplest way to provide access so that subscribers don't have to sign in separately for each article they want to see. We have been posting articles at Science News Online since April 1996. In the time since June 2001, when we started offering subscribers access to the full text of all our articles, we haven't had the resources to rebuild the entire site and modify all its pages to provide an alternative method of access.

How do I gain access to the Science News 1995-2000 pdf archive?

Go to the archive page at http://www.sciencenews.org/archives/index.asp. Find the listing for "Science News PDF Archive (1995-2000)" halfway down the page. Click on the "Sign In" button. Once you have signed in and been returned to the archive page, click on the logo at the left or the word "Access" in the pdf archive description.

For additional help, please contact Science News Online at sciweb@sciencenews.org.