Science

=== Scientific literature ===
{{Main|Scientific literature|Lists of important publications in science}}
[[File:Nature_cover,_November_4,_1869.jpg|thumb|Cover of the first issue of ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', November 4, 1869|alt=Decorated "NATURE" as title, with scientific text below|left]]
Scientific research is published in a range of literature.<ref>{{cite journal |author-link= John Ziman| last= Ziman | first= J.M. | journal= Science | title= The proliferation of scientific literature: a natural process | year=1980 | volume=208 | issue=4442 | pages=369–71 | doi= 10.1126/science.7367863 | pmid=7367863| bibcode=1980Sci...208..369Z }}</ref> [[Scientific journal]]s communicate and document the results of research carried out in universities and various other research institutions, serving as an archival record of science. The first scientific journals, ''[[Journal des sçavans]]'' followed by ''[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society|Philosophical Transactions]]'', began publication in 1665. Since that time the total number of active periodicals has steadily increased. In 1981, one estimate for the number of scientific and technical journals in publication was 11,500.<ref>{{cite book | first=Krishna | last=Subramanyam |author2=Subramanyam, Bhadriraju | year=1981 | title=Scientific and Technical Information Resources | publisher=CRC Press | isbn=978-0-8247-8297-9 | oclc=232950234 }}</ref>

Most scientific journals cover a single scientific field and publish the research within that field; the research is normally expressed in the form of a [[scientific paper]]. Science has become so pervasive in modern societies that it is considered necessary to communicate the achievements, news, and ambitions of scientists to a wider population.<ref name="bush1945">{{cite web |last=Bush |first=Vannevar |date=July 1945 |title=Science the Endless Frontier |url=https://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nsf50/vbush1945.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107221306/https://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nsf50/vbush1945.htm |archive-date=November 7, 2016 |access-date=November 4, 2016 |publisher=National Science Foundation}}</ref>