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The Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (ELS) is an encyclopedia that spans the entire spectrum of life sciences and is published by Wiley-Blackwell.

ELS is available online and as a 26-volume print edition. The online edition was launched in April 2001, with the print edition published in January 2002. At the end of 2004, ELS was acquired by Wiley-Blackwell from the Nature Publishing Group. 2,414 new and updated articles have been added since then. January 2009 has seen the introduction of a new logo and a new and improved homepage for ELS.

Articles are written by leaders in the field and cover subjects from areas as diverse as ecology and cell biology. As of December 2008, there are now 4,373 article topics published in ELS online, of which 837 also include updated versions.

Full access to ELS requires a subscription, although all article abstracts are available to view and free sample articles are available online.

Articles are divided into three categories:

Introductory articles: aimed at the level of British university undergraduates, American college freshmen/sophomores and non-specialist readers.

Advanced articles: aimed at advanced undergraduates, graduates and researchers.

Keynote articles: written from a personal point of view and discuss unique and often controversial topics of special interest in biology.

[edit] See also

• List of online encyclopedias

[edit] External links

• ELS website