In an article Michel and Lieberman Aiden published in the January 14 2011 issue of Science, one of the top research journals, they used a database of 4% of all the books ever printed between 1800 and 2000 to show how grammar, censorship practices, and the rate at which new technologies are adopted over time.

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The database consists of over 100 scholarly journals in multiple fields, going back many years, and in some cases over a century.

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