What is Synapse?
Synapse is a self-service web interface and database supported and maintained by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Library, providing access to an inventory of the published output of our researchers and clinicians. As the name implies, Synapse is the user’s point of “connection” to publications authored by Memorial Sloan-Kettering staff. You can search for specific author names or by journal title, keyword and other fields. The search will return a listing (bibliography) of publications that you can browse, print, export or connect to the fulltext of specific articles.
The term “synapse” was coined in 1897 by the English physiologist Charles Sherrington with help from some of his colleagues. They derived the term from the Greek word “synaptein” meaning to fasten together.
The interface for Synapse allows users to submit, search, and retrieve relevant information about MSKCC published literature that can be used for research, creating bibliographies, completing core grant applications and updates, journal club sessions, and future publications and presentations.
Resources used to populate Synapse
Several bibliographic databases are used to populate the references being stored in Synapse. Each resource cited below is also available from the Library Web site. They include:
- BIOSIS Previews - encompasses the entire field of life sciences and provides coverage of the world's biological and biomedical research
- Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) - major indexing resource for nursing literature
- PsycINFO - covers the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines
- SCOPUS - covers scientific, technical and medical literature
- ISI Web of Knowledge – includes Web of Science products: Science Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index and encompasses the sciences and social sciences
Coverage of articles found in Synapse
Synapse, version 1.0 contains references for journal articles, books and book chapters, conference meetings and other items published by MSKCC authors. Most of the information dates from 1996 - current. Retrospective information will continue to be added over time.
Adding your publication or requesting a correction
If you are an Memorial Sloan-Kettering author and notice your publication is missing or incorrect, please submit it via our Comments and Corrections form on the left navigation bar.
Linking to the fulltext of articles from Synapse
From your Synapse search results, you can access the full text of an article by clicking on the article's title. Click on the Fulltext@MSK button located in the top left corner of the window. If the article is not available online, you will also have the option to request the article via the Library's Document Delivery Services.