Scientific literature

Modern publications of scientific interest take such as particles, reports, surveys, monographs, bibliographies, critical reviews, abstracts, and announcements articularly those detailing discoveries. Forms of scientific literature from antiquity to the seventeenth century also included poetry, dramatized and undramatized dialogues and discourses, epistles and instructions, biographical and travellers accounts. New titles of scientific literature presently exceed 50,000 annually world-wide with over 100 million printed copies. Scientific literature not published includes research done by military scientists, particularly on weapons, defense measures, and intelligence gathering; proprietary laboratory and design data from commercial enterprises; and academic dissertations. The public's access to scientific literature is limited, mainly due to budget limitations on private and public libraries; to security and proprietary classifications; and to untranslated foreign language originals.