AlphaGalileo is a comprehensive European research news service that publishes up‐to‐the‐minute free information for journalists and the general public. It is essentially a press agency that disseminates information fed to it by a host of European research bodies, such as the CNRS, Max‐Planck‐Gesellschaft, the European Space Agency, the European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the European Southern Observatory, plus several UK and European universities. The not‐for‐profit AlphaGalileo Foundation was formed by the UK's Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in 1998 to support effective communication between scientists, journalists, and the public. The service is endorsed by Action 1 of the European Commission's Science and Society Action Plan, which supports the timely dissemination of European scientific information to journalists around the world.
Content types include news releases, events information, publication announcements, multimedia and broadcast transmissions. Formats include PDF (e.g. excerpts from print books and articles), audio, image, and video files. AlphaGalileo is moderated to ensure quality and restricts content to research that is being managed within Europe. Contributing institutions pay a fee per item posted or an annual subscription for unlimited posts. Subscription levels vary by degree of service offered; for example, premium subscribers have their content “highlighted” throughout the site. Submissions are accepted in all European languages and posted via a secure web site or e‐mail. The service offers a “multilingual support team” to assist in the publishing process, but it is not clear whether this means translation services are available. News contributors can obtain real‐time statistics on the number of journalists viewing their news.
Subjects are divided into science, applied science, health, arts, humanities, and society and are organized by tabs (including View All). At the time reviewed, items were primarily in English, with some in Spanish and German. Information under the society, humanities and arts categories had a distinctly scientific flavour, which befits AlphaGalileo's role in promoting science research to a broad community. The site is viewable in English or Spanish, and it can be easily browsed by content type or subject category. A basic keyword search feature offers limits for subjects and content type; an advanced search has additional limits for language, country, date, and types of attached files (e.g. images, audio, video, and documents).
Media professionals who are vetted and approved through a registration process have access via a login to a secure, media‐dedicated part of the site offering news under embargo. Registered users can also receive updates via RSS feeds and e‐mail alerts as well as access listings of subject experts and background information. Journalists currently registered include staff from the BBC, Agence France Presse, El Mundo, News International, Nature, New Scientist, Le Monde, Associated Press, Elsevier Science, Reuters and Scientific American.
Public viewers have access to all visible site content and the search features. The AlphaGalileo site is well designed, in that it keeps secure access content hidden while providing a free research news service for the public. Unlike other online European science and technology news services that target the average news consumer, AlphaGalileo features news of value to worldwide academic and research communities.
