Help Center

Many Stacks records have bibliographic citations for their work. To export bibliographic citations from one or more documents, follow the process below:

What is CDC Stacks Library?

The CDC Stacks Library is a digital archive of scientific research and literature produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It provides free online access to a vast collection of scientific research and literature produced by the CDC. The archive includes current research as well as historical documents, such as the first 30 volumes of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

What is a Collection?

A Collection in the CDC Stacks Library refers to items that address a shared topic. Searching within a collection helps narrow your search.

Who are Authorized Users of the CDC Stacks Repository?

The repository is available indefinitely for public health professionals, researchers, and the public, providing free access.

What Documents are Listed in the "Recent Additions" Area of the Site?

The “Recent Additions” section lists documents newly added to the repository within the last 30 days.

Why must I wait to download the articles on the "Coming Soon" page?

These journal articles have been placed under a Public Access Embargo. This is the period in which access to academic journals is not allowed to users who have not paid for access (or have access through their institution). 
The CDC Public Access to Publications Policy was developed to ensure that these journal articles may be made freely available to the public.

How often is the home page updated?

The spotlight highlights and quick links are added and updated by the agency catalogers based on the agency's need and timelines.

How do I view or download a document?

Open a document's page from the search results or from within a collection. When a full-text version is available, use the document's View / Download link to open or save the PDF. Some records also provide a Dataset Download URL for associated data files. You can also export a document's citation using the CITE button (see the Citation Export tab).

I can't find a document. What can I do?

• Check spelling, and remove or wrap special characters (such as a colon) in quotation marks.
• Broaden your terms, or combine them with OR to widen the results.
• Search across All Collections rather than a single collection.
• Use Advanced Search to target a specific field such as author, document type, or published date.
• The item may be under a Public Access embargo and listed on the Coming Soon page, or it may not yet be in the repository.
• Still stuck? Visit the Contact Us page for help.

How to Request for a New Publication to be Added to Stacks Library

Before You Begin

1. Ensure the publication is authored by at least one current or former CDC employee, including contractors, or that it has received CDC funding.
2. Confirm the publication is Section 508 compliant. While CDC Stacks can add non-508 compliant archival and historical materials, you must provide a compliant version if requested by a user.
3. Note that publications in formats such as .html, .htm, or executable files (.exe, .bat, .jar, .war, etc.) are not accepted in CDC Stacks.
4. Prior to adding files to the Stacks repository, an anti-virus check is performed to ensure security.
5. If unsure about the allowable file format, submit a help desk ticket to PublishingHD@cdc.gov.

Also, please search Stacks to ensure that the item is not already preserved in the repository. You may wish to use the Advanced Search feature, as it allows you to fine tune your search.

Steps

1. Complete the Excel Ingest Template: Fill in as much information as possible. The following fields are required for an item to be added to CDC Stacks:

   • Title
   • Description
   • Subject
   • Corporate Author
   • Published Date
   • Main Document URLs (or attach documents, or provide document path in the email request)

   It's important to complete the non-mandatory fields provided in the template as well. The additional information enhances the discoverability of your content.

2. Email the Completed Template: Send the completed Excel template to the CDC Stacks Helpdesk at PublishingHD@cdc.gov and copy Catherine Mukua (ovk7@cdc.gov) and Leighton Christiansen (xrl7@cdc.gov). Attach your document/s to the email. PDF is the preferred format where feasible.
3. Processing Time: Allow 5 business days for your publication to be added to Stacks.
4. Edits and Document Swaps: If you need to edit and therefore swap your existing document/s, re-send the edited version and allow 2-3 business days for the update to be made.
5. Notification: You will receive a notification once your request is completed.

How do I request assignment of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for my materials?

To assign a DOI to your publication, follow these steps:

1. Contact Your Publisher:Most publishers provide DOIs upon publication.
2. Request from CDC Stacks: If your publisher does not provide DOIs, CDC Stacks can generate one for you through Crossref. Send a request to PublishingHD@cdc.gov.

What Types of Materials Accepted in the CDC Stacks Library?

Any publication authored by one or more CDC employees (including contractors) or funded by the CDC can be added, provided it is Section 508 compliant. Exceptions are made for archival and historical materials, but a 508 compliant version must be provided upon request. The following file types are not accepted: .html, .htm, or exe.

Where can I find information on 508 Compliance?

As noted on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Digital Accessibility page, "As a Department of the federal government, we are required to abide by the Section 508 legislation. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, codified at section 29 USC 794d, as amended, ensures those with disabilities have equal access to government information as contained on information and communications technology (ICT), and thereby to the government employment, programs and services to which all citizens are entitled."

To be more specific, all public facing electronic documents published after March 23, 2018, must be accessible according to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines 83 FR 2912 Final Rule as published in the Federal Register https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/18/2017-00395/information-and-communication-technology-ict-standards-and-guidelines

You can find more information on Section 508 Compliance at the following links:

• HHS Accessibility & Section 508 | HHS.gov
• Home | Section508.gov
• U.S. Access Board Information and Communication Technology page

What determines the order of items of how items are returned from search?

Relevancy is the quality of results returned from a query, encompassing both what documents are found, and their relative ranking (the order that they are returned to the user.) 

How are documents scored ?

Here is the link if anyone would like to know exact mathematical formulas used behind calculating score.

Mathematical formulas used behind calculating score

By default, a "TF-IDF" based Scoring Model is used. The basic scoring factors:

• TF stands for term frequency - the more times a search term appears in a document, the higher the score
• IDF stands for inverse document frequency - matches on rarer terms count more than matches on common terms
• coord is the coordination factor - if there are multiple terms in a query, the more terms that match, the higher the score
• lengthNorm - matches on a smaller field score higher than matches on a larger field
• index-time boost - if a boost was specified for a document at index time, scores for searches that match that document will be boosted.
• query clause boost - a user may explicitly boost the contribution of one part of a query over another.

Stacks uses boost at query time on following metadata fields

• Title^10
• Personal Author(s)^5
• Corporate author(s)^5
• Conference Author(s)^5
• Description/Abstract^2
• Content Note^2
• Subject(s)^3
• Genre^3
• Document Type^2
• Series^2
• Published Date^2
• PMID^2
• PMCID^2
• Language^2
• Source^2
• Publisher URL^2
• Digital Object Identifier^10
• Grants^10
• Local Corporate Name^10
• Creator^5
• Corporate Creator^5
• Report Number^10
• Keywords^10
• Main Document Content^2

Doing an explicit sort in the SOLR query will ignore the relevancy scores.