[orangewarp]

Like others are mentioning, I've always found it curious how difficult it is for people outside of academia to access good journals and articles. It's even more puzzling because in academia we're always trying to shout to the world that this knowledge ought to be utilized. That said, I think some fields have a much better relationship with industry than others. In my field of education, it's a rather big problem disseminating findings to the front line. As for tips, I've found that a good way to stay on top of knowledge broadly is to read edited handbooks and reviews. These sources might not be the newest but they certainly condense a lot of good empirical findings that have been tested over time and highlight the most important branches and directions. It's also kind of interesting to find who the grad students of the most prominent figures are and read their papers, proceedings. A) They're dying to talk about their stuff, B) They have the guidance of an experienced scholar, and C) They have that energy to drive into quite interesting and new territory.