What is RSS?
RSS (normally elaborated as Really Simply Syndication) is a format used to provide web content or summaries of web content together with links to the full versions of the content, and other meta-data.

Receiving news via RSS negates the need to visit and navigate websites directly in order to find new, or updated, content. Given it's simplicity, RSS is rapidly growing in popularity amongst users and online information providers.

How can I use RSS?
In order to recieve/read RSS feeds you will need a news reader. A news reader can be either web-based (i.e. accessible via a browser) or a full application that you will have to download and install.

Once you have a news reader at your disposal, you can start to add RSS 'channels' to your reader, this is achieved by entering the URL of the feed into the software (commonly as a new channel).

In addition, some web browsers offer built-in RSS support whereby, once added, RSS feeds are made available in much the same way are bookmarks/favourites.

A typical RSS news reader in action

How do I get a reader?
A number of free and commercial news readers are available on the internet. A small selection of these are provided below. Note that Elsevier is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

MS Windows:
  FeedDemon
  Awasu

Macintosh OS X:
  Newsfire
  NetNewsWire

Online news readers:
  NewsGator
  Bloglines

Web browsers with RSS support:
  Firefox
  Opera
  Safari

Can I use these feeds on my site?
Yes, it is possible to include RSS feeds on any website in practice. All that we ask is that correct accreditation is displayed alongside any such feed, e.g. Chemistry News from Elsevier.