how to open researchgate papers for free

How to Download Researchgate Papers for Free: A Comprehensive Guide

• by PatrickTurner
• October 6, 2023

Research papers are essential resources for scholars and researchers, providing valuable insights and up-to-date information on various topics. However, accessing these papers can sometimes be challenging, especially when they are behind paywalls or require costly memberships. In this blog post, we will explore how you can download Researchgate papers for free, allowing you to access a vast repository of academic knowledge without breaking the bank.

We will also address common questions such as whether there is a JSTOR app, the cost of JSTOR membership, and whether a JSTOR account is free. Additionally, we will delve into the history of JSTOR and how it relates to downloading research papers for free. So, if you’re eager to expand your research resources without spending a fortune, let’s dive in and discover the secrets to downloading Researchgate papers without any hassle.

How to Download ResearchGate Papers for Free

If you’re an avid researcher or a curious student, chances are you’ve come across ResearchGate, a platform that provides access to a vast number of scholarly articles. However, accessing full papers on ResearchGate often comes at a cost. Fear not, though, because in this guide, I’ll show you some clever ways to download ResearchGate papers for free. So sit back, relax, and let’s get right into it!

1. Leveraging ResearchGate’s “Request full-text” feature

Did you know that ResearchGate has a nifty little feature called “Request full-text”? It allows you to politely ask the authors for a copy of their paper. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “But what if they never respond?” Well, fear not, my friend, for there’s a workaround. Simply copy the paper’s title and paste it into your favorite search engine, followed by “filetype:pdf.” Voila! You might just stumble upon a free version of the paper you’re after.

2. The secret weapon: Google Scholar

Imagine having your very own research superhero at your fingertips. Well, look no further, because Google Scholar is here to save the day! By using this powerful search engine, you can often find freely accessible versions of research papers, even those behind paywalls. Simply enter the paper’s title or keywords, hit that search button, and explore the results. Remember to keep an eye out for PDF versions or links that lead directly to the full paper.

3. Unleashing the powers of Sci-Hub

Now, are you ready for some magic? Meet Sci-Hub, the not-so-secret weapon of researchers worldwide. This controversial website is a treasure trove of academic papers. All you need to do is visit the site, copy and paste the ResearchGate paper’s DOI or URL, and marvel as Sci-Hub works its enchantment, giving you free access to the paper in a matter of seconds. Disclaimer: the legality of Sci-Hub is still a hot topic, so remember to use it responsibly and support open access initiatives whenever possible.

4. Collaborating with the authors

If you believe in the power of collaboration, then this method might be right up your alley. Reach out to the authors directly and express your interest in their research. Sometimes, they’ll be more than happy to share their work with an enthusiastic reader like yourself. You can find the authors’ contact information on ResearchGate itself or even on their personal websites. So go on, drop them a friendly email and see where it leads!

5. Exploring institutional repositories

Ah, the often overlooked land of institutional repositories , a hidden oasis for researchers seeking free access to scholarly works. Many universities and research institutions have their own digital repositories where they store and share their academics’ publications. So why not pay them a visit? With a little digging, you might just find the ResearchGate paper you’re looking for residing in one of these fantastic repositories.

Downloading ResearchGate papers for free doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By employing clever tactics like leveraging the “Request full-text” feature, using Google Scholar, harnessing the powers of Sci-Hub, collaborating with authors, and exploring institutional repositories, you can unlock a world of knowledge without breaking the bank. So go forth, my fellow knowledge-seekers, and embark on your quest for free access to research papers. Happy downloading!

Now that you have these tricks up your sleeve, you can dive deep into the world of research without feeling restricted. Go forth, my fellow knowledge-seekers, and embark on your quest for free access to research papers. Happy downloading!

+———————+

Frequently Asked Questions about Downloading ResearchGate Papers for Free

Is there an app for accessing jstor.

Yes! JSTOR has an amazing app that allows you to explore its vast collection on the go. Whether you’re standing in line at the grocery store or waiting for your friend who takes forever to get ready, you can dive into the world of scholarly research right from the palm of your hand. It’s like having a pocket-sized library with all the answers to your burning questions!

How much does a JSTOR membership cost

JSTOR offers different membership options to cater to everyone’s needs. The prices can vary depending on your requirements, but let me tell you, the wealth of knowledge you’ll gain access to is worth every penny. Plus, supporting organizations like JSTOR ensures that they can continue preserving and sharing invaluable research with curious minds like yours.

Is a JSTOR account free

While JSTOR does offer some free content, having a JSTOR account opens up a world of possibilities. Think of it as gaining VIP access to a treasure trove of academic treasures. With a JSTOR account, you’ll be able to explore a wealth of research papers, scholarly articles, and other fascinating resources. Trust me, it’s like stepping into a secret clubhouse where you can nerd out to your heart’s content!

When was JSTOR founded

JSTOR has been making waves in the scholarly world since 1995. It’s been a trailblazer in digitizing important academic literature and creating a platform that revolutionizes access to knowledge. So, the next time you’re lost in a sea of academic references, think of the brilliant minds that worked tirelessly to bring JSTOR into existence. They deserve a standing ovation!

How can I get my hands on ResearchGate papers without breaking the bank

Ah, the million-dollar question! We all love a good deal, especially when it comes to accessing research papers. While downloading ResearchGate papers for free might seem like a challenge, there are some legal and ethical tricks up our sleeves. Here are a few tips to help you navigate the scholarly landscape without draining your wallet:

Embrace Open Access

Many researchers and institutions believe in the power of open access. Look out for papers that are freely available for everyone. You’d be surprised by how many gems you can find without spending a dime. It’s like finding a hidden treasure chest filled with knowledge that’s just waiting to be discovered!

Reach Out to the Authors

Don’t be afraid to send a polite email to the authors of the papers you’re interested in. Kindly explain your situation and express your enthusiasm for their work. Often, researchers are more than willing to share their knowledge and send you a copy of their papers. Remember, scholars are humans too, and a little kindness can go a long way!

Leverage Institutional Subscriptions

If you’re affiliated with a university or research institution, chances are they have subscriptions to platforms like JSTOR. These subscriptions grant you access to a wealth of academic resources. So, make the most of your affiliation and enjoy the perks of being part of an intellectual community. It’s like having a backstage pass to the concert of knowledge!

Participate in ResearchGate’s Shared Publications

ResearchGate encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing among researchers. By joining the ResearchGate community, you can connect with scholars and access their shared publications. It’s a like a potluck party for academia, where everyone brings their most delicious intellectual contributions to share with the world!

Happy Explorations!

Hope these FAQs have shed some light on how you can dive into the realm of ResearchGate papers without feeling the pinch in your pocket. Remember, knowledge is worth pursuing, and sometimes a little creativity can help you satisfy your intellectual curiosity without breaking the bank. So, go forth and embark on your scholarly adventures, armed with the power of JSTOR and the enthusiasm of a curious mind!

• academic knowledge
• institutional repositories
• leverage institutional subscriptions
• research papers
• researchers
• researchgate papers
• scholarly articles

PatrickTurner

Exploring the 7 types of landscapes in creative writing, what can i use to print water bottle labels, you may also like, how to resume bitlocker encryption paused – a comprehensive guide.

• by Jackie Hobbs
• October 18, 2023

Mahatma Gandhi: The Inspiring Leader Who Continues to Shape Our World

• by Erin Fuentes

Can You FaceTime Someone in a Different Country for Free?

• by Adam Davis
• October 27, 2023

Top Cities in the Mountain and Basins Region of Texas

• by Sean Brown
• October 19, 2023

Why Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Unveiling the Power Within

• by Veronica Lopez

Is Safety More Important Than Privacy?

• by Matthew Morales
• October 9, 2023

• Interesting
• Scholarships
• UGC-CARE Journals

14 Websites to Download Research Paper for Free – 2024

Download Research Paper for Free

Table of contents

2. z-library, 3. library genesis, 4. unpaywall, 5. gettheresearch.org, 6. directory of open access journals (doaj), 7. researcher, 8. science open, 10. internet archive scholar, 11. citationsy archives, 13. dimensions, 14. paperpanda – download research papers for free.

Collecting and reading relevant research articles to one’s research areas is important for PhD scholars. However, for any research scholar, downloading a research paper is one of the most difficult tasks. You must pay for access to high-quality research materials or subscribe to the journal or publication. In this article, ilovephd lists the top 14 websites to download free research papers, journals, books, datasets, patents, and conference proceedings downloads.

Download Research Paper for Free – 2024

14 best free websites to download research papers are listed below:

Sci-Hub is a website link with over 64.5 million academic papers and articles available for direct download. It bypasses publisher paywalls by allowing access through educational institution proxies.  To download papers Sci-Hub  stores papers in its repository, this storage is called Library Genesis (LibGen) or library genesis proxy 2024.

Visit: Working Sci-Hub Proxy Links – 2024

Z-Library is a clone of Library Genesis, a shadow library project that allows users to share scholarly journal articles, academic texts, and general-interest books via file sharing (some of which are pirated). The majority of its books come from Library Genesis, however, some are posted directly to the site by individuals.

Individuals can also donate to the website’s repository to make literature more widely available. Z-library claims to have more than  10,139,382 Books  and  84,837,646 Articles  articles as of April 25, 2024.

It promises to be “the world’s largest e-book library” as well as “the world’s largest scientific papers repository,” according to the project’s page for academic publications (at booksc.org). Z-library also describes itself as a donation-based non-profit organization.

Visit: Z-Library – You can Download 70,000,000+ scientific articles for free

The Library Genesis aggregator is a community aiming at collecting and cataloging item descriptions for the most part of scientific, scientific, and technical directions, as well as file metadata. In addition to the descriptions, the aggregator contains only links to third-party resources hosted by users. All information posted on the website is collected from publicly available public Internet resources and is intended solely for informational purposes.

Visit: libgen.li

Unpaywall harvests Open Access content from over 50,000 publishers and repositories, and makes it easy to find, track, and use. It is integrated into thousands of library systems, search platforms, and other information products worldwide. In fact, if you’re involved in scholarly communication, there’s a good chance you’ve already used Unpaywall data.

Unpaywall is run by OurResearch, a nonprofit dedicated to making scholarships more accessible to everyone. Open is our passion. So it’s only natural our source code is open, too.

Visit: unpaywall.org

GetTheResearch.org is an  Artificial Intelligence(AI)  powered search engine for search and understand  scientific articles  for researchers and scientists. It was developed as a part of the  Unpaywall  project. Unpaywall is a database of 23,329,737 free scholarly Open Access(OA) articles from over 50,000 publishers and repositories, and make it easy to find, track, and use.

Visit: Find and Understand 25 Million Peer-Reviewed Research Papers for Free

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) was launched in 2003 with 300 open-access journals. Today, this independent index contains almost 17 500 peer-reviewed, open-access journals covering all areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Open-access journals from all countries and in all languages are accepted for indexing.

DOAJ is financially supported by many libraries, publishers, and other like-minded organizations. Supporting DOAJ demonstrates a firm commitment to open access and the infrastructure that supports it.

Visit: doaj.org

The researcher is a free journal-finding mobile application that helps you to read new journal papers every day that are relevant to your research. It is the most popular mobile application used by more than 3 million scientists and researchers to keep themselves updated with the latest academic literature.

Visit: 10 Best Apps for Graduate Students 

ScienceOpen  is a discovery platform with interactive features for scholars to enhance their research in the open, make an impact, and receive credit for it. It provides context-building services for publishers, to bring researchers closer to the content than ever before. These advanced search and discovery functions, combined with post-publication peer review, recommendation, social sharing, and collection-building features make  ScienceOpen  the only research platform you’ll ever need.

Visit: scienceopen.com

OA.mg is a search engine for academic papers. Whether you are looking for a specific paper, or for research from a field, or all of an author’s works – OA.mg is the place to find it.

Visit: oa.mg

Internet Archive Scholar (IAS) is a full-text search index that includes over 25 million research articles and other scholarly documents preserved in the Internet Archive. The collection spans from digitized copies of eighteenth-century journals through the latest Open Access conference proceedings and pre-prints crawled from the World Wide Web.

Visit: Sci hub Alternative – Internet Archive Scholar

Citationsy was founded in 2017 after the reference manager Cenk was using at the time, RefMe, was shut down. It was immediately obvious that the reason people loved RefMe — a clean interface, speed, no ads, simplicity of use — did not apply to CiteThisForMe. It turned out to be easier than anticipated to get a rough prototype up.

Visit: citationsy.com

CORE is the world’s largest aggregator of open-access research papers from repositories and journals. It is a not-for-profit service dedicated to the open-access mission. We serve the global network of repositories and journals by increasing the discoverability and reuse of open-access content.

It provides solutions for content management, discovery, and scalable machine access to research. Our services support a wide range of stakeholders, specifically researchers, the general public, academic institutions, developers, funders, and companies from a diverse range of sectors including but not limited to innovators, AI technology companies, digital library solutions, and pharma.

Visit: core.ac.uk

Dimensions cover millions of research publications connected by more than 1.6 billion citations, supporting grants, datasets, clinical trials, patents, and policy documents.

Dimensions is the most comprehensive research grants database that links grants to millions of resulting publications, clinical trials, and patents. It

provides up-to-the-minute online attention data via Altmetric, showing you how often publications and clinical trials are discussed around the world. 226m Altmetric mentions with 17m links to publications.

Dimensions include datasets from repositories such as Figshare, Dryad, Zenodo, Pangaea, and many more. It hosts millions of patents with links to other citing patents as well as to publications and supporting grants.

Visit: dimensions.ai

PaperPanda is a Chrome extension that uses some clever logic and the Panda’s detective skills to find you the research paper PDFs you need. Essentially, when you activate PaperPanda it finds the DOI of the paper from the current page, and then goes and searches for it. It starts by querying various Open Access repositories like OpenAccessButton, OaDoi, SemanticScholar, Core, ArXiV, and the Internet Archive. You can also set your university library’s domain in the settings (this feature is in the works and coming soon). PaperPanda will then automatically search for the paper through your library. You can also set a different custom domain in the settings.

Visit: PaperPanda

I hope, this article will help you to know some of the best websites to download research papers and journals for free.

• download paid books for free
• download research papers for free
• download research papers free
• download scientific article for free
• Free Datasets download
• how to download research paper

UGC-CARE List of Journals – Arts and Humanities – 2024

Choosing a phd supervisor 9 key factors to consider, 10 ideas to get 10x more google scholar citations.

hi im zara,student of art. could you please tell me how i can download the paper and books about painting, sewing,sustainable fashion,graphic and so on. thank a lot

thanks for the informative reports.

warm regards

Good, Keep it up!

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Email Subscription

iLovePhD is a research education website to know updated research-related information. It helps researchers to find top journals for publishing research articles and get an easy manual for research tools. The main aim of this website is to help Ph.D. scholars who are working in various domains to get more valuable ideas to carry out their research. Learn the current groundbreaking research activities around the world, love the process of getting a Ph.D.

WhatsApp Channel

Join iLovePhD WhatsApp Channel Now!

Contact us: [email protected]

Copyright © 2019-2024 - iLovePhD

• Artificial intelligence

Writing about Design

Principles and tips for design-oriented research.

How to get access to articles that are not Open Access

Although there is a strong push within the academic community to make research freely accessible (“open access”) to everyone, many research papers are unfortunately still published and available “behind the paywall”. That means that the publisher of the journal, book or a conference proceedings requires someone to subscribe the content. Typically that payer is a university library, who then can make the content accessible to the university students and employees.

But making use of this subscription can be complicated. Even if the seeker for papers – such as a student or a researcher – would have an affiliation with a university, it is not self-evident how one can get past the paywall and download the paper.

This post presents ways to get through the paywall, but requires that you have a user account in a university.

The focus of this post builds on an assumption that the seeker’s main literature search tool is Google Scholar, due to its simple use and excellent coverage of different research papers.

Google Scholar with basic internet connection: limited access to “full texts”

It is important to notice that Google Scholar provides access to articles differently depending on the type of internet connection. The difference shows in the links that Scholar displays in its search results.

When a user searches papers with Google Scholar with an ordinary internet connection, Google Scholar helps find papers, but cannot always provide the user with the “full text”. By full text, publishing companies mean the PDF that contains the article in its entirety. If access is not full text, then the user can only see the title, abstract, references, and maybe the first page of the paper.

It is sometimes possible to get an access to a full text even with this internet setup. This happens if:

• The text has been published as Open Access (OA) or with a permission that the authors are allowed to upload a copy of the text to their personal public repository of papers.
• Someone has uploaded the text somewhere in the Internet even if it is is not OA, thus possibly breaking the copyright of that content. Google has then found that paper.
• The paper’s preprint or so-called “accepted manuscript” version is available from the authors of the paper. A pre-print is often an earlier version of the paper: similar or even identical in its content with the final one, but not copy-edited to the final layout, and therefore lacks correct page numbers, and may have minor typing errors.

The screenshot below shows an example of what a Google Scholar search can produce as an outcome.

From the screenshot, different kinds of links can be seen. They provide different levels of access to the content:

• [PDF] : full text can be downloaded from the linked web page
• [HTML] : full text can be usually downloaded, but not always
• Getit@Grifols : this is a link whose purpose is not clear to me. No full texts available, anyway.
• The link of the paper title : takes the user to the publisher’s website. Full text may or may not be downloadable from it.

As a base rule, if the text does not have any links in the right-side column, the full text PDF is not available from any source.

Google Scholar with university’s VPN connection

The access to papers can dramatically improve if you tunnel your Internet connection through a university’s VPN service. With VPN, all the Internet traffic from a computer will travel (i.e., is “tunneled”) through a designated server. Both Google Scholar and the publishing companies then recognize that the user is connecting them from an Internet address that has a right to access also subscribed contents.

It therefore makes sense to use VPN in using Google Scholar. Here is how the same search results look like with VPN. Note that the two previously inaccessible papers are now downloadable via a “ sfx@Aalto ” link. Sadly, Klein & Weitzenfeld’s text in Educational Psychologist still remains unaccessible: my university does not have a subscription to its contents:

I cannot be sure, but I believe all the universities provide a similar service as Aalto University does, and therefore VPN opens doors to papers (for those who have a university account, of course). Here are the instructions for Aalto users for how you install the VPN client on your computer.

Accessing papers without VPN

It is not necessary to use VPN to access texts, however. An alternative is to navigate to a university library’s search interface and download the paper through it. Every library works slightly differently in service its users. At Aalto University, it is possible to enter e.g., the paper’s title, and the service tries to find a matching piece of content from its digitally subscribed sources. Aalto University’s article search interface is here .

A good idea is to use the text’s DOI (digital object identifier) as the search term instead of a paper’s name, because otherwise you may get lots of unnecessary search hits too. DOI uniquely identifies the paper, and can be always found somewhere from the publisher’s website.

When you find the desired search result, click on the links that promises to take you to the electronic full text. At that stage you will need to provide your user name and password, to prove that you are entitled to access the content.

Another Aalto-specific tip is to use the list of digital paper libraries in libproxy.aalto.fi . If you know the publisher of a paper your are interested in, you can go to that library via a link in the libproxy page. As long as you browse papers in that library, you are surfing within the paywall, and will be able to download full texts.

Paper request from ResearchGate

As the last resort, you may go to ResearchGate  or Academia.edu . These are services where researchers can upload their works and create profile pages. If a researcher has uploaded the paper to the service, ResearchGate/Academia.edu provides a feature where you can ask a researcher to send a copy of the paper to you privately.

A word of advice: It is best to use this feature only after you have tried the other possibilities above and they have failed. By my personal experience, it is always irritating to react to ResearchGate’s paper requests if the requested paper is also available as Open Access. A request in such a situation only shows that the requester has not spent even a minimal bit of effort to find it. I get paper requests from ResearchGate approximately once a week. Much more cited researchers therefore probably get several requests each day.

Final words

As can be seen, retrieval of a text can require quite a bit of work. It is better to minimize the amount of work that you need to spend in downloading. Therefore, always download and store the paper on your computer! Also make sure that you can easily find that paper later on from your computer. For example, use a systematic file-naming principle (e.g., authorname year paper title.pdf) for all the papers, or start using reference manager programs such as Mendeley or Zotero. That will save you time next time, and lets you annotate the texts that you read with your own observations.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Markku Reunanen for informing about the digital library listing at libproxy.aalto.fi.

One thought on “ How to get access to articles that are not Open Access ”

Pingback: How the most useful background literature can be found? | Writing about Design

Comments are closed.

Best Websites To Download Research Papers For Free: Beyond Sci-Hub

Navigating the vast ocean of academic research can be daunting, especially when you’re on a quest for specific research papers without the constraints of paywalls. Fortunately, the digital age has ushered in an era of accessible knowledge, with various platforms offering free downloads of scholarly articles.

In this article, we explore some of the best websites that provide researchers, students, and academicians with free access to a plethora of research papers across diverse fields, ensuring that knowledge remains within everyone’s reach.

Best Websites To Download Research Papers For Free

Google scholar.

As a researcher, you might find Google Scholar to be a repository brimming with academic papers covering a broad span of domains like social sciences, computer science, and humanity, including:

• Journal articles
• Conference papers, and

Unlike other websites to download research papers, Google Scholar provides free access to a vast collection of scholarly literature, making it one of the best websites to download research.

Not every article is available in full PDF format directly; however, Google Scholar often links to other open access resources like DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) and open-access repositories where you can directly download papers.

For instance, if you’re searching for a specific 2023 research paper in mathematics, you can use Google Scholar to locate the paper and check if it’s available for free download either on the platform itself or through links to various open access sources.

In many cases, Google Scholar integrates with tools like Unpaywall and Open Access Button, which are browser extensions that help you find free versions of paywalled articles.

These extensions often redirect you to open-access content, including those on platforms like Sci-Hub and Library Genesis, although it’s crucial to be aware of the legal and ethical implications of using such services.

ResearchGate

ResearchGate is a unique platform that blends social networking with academic research, making it an essential tool for researchers and scientists across various disciplines.

Here, you have access to a digital library of millions of research papers, spanning fields from computer science to social sciences and beyond.

When you’re on ResearchGate, downloading a research paper is relatively straightforward, especially if it’s open access. Many researchers upload the full PDF of their work, providing free access to their peer-reviewed articles.

If the research paper you’re interested in isn’t available for direct download, ResearchGate offers a unique feature: you can request a copy directly from the author.

This approach not only gets you the paper but also potentially opens a line of communication with leading experts in your field.

It’s important to note that ResearchGate isn’t just a repository; it’s a platform for discovery and connection. You can:

• Follow specific researchers
• Join discussions, and
• Receive notifications about new research in your domain.

While it doesn’t have the controversial direct download links like Sci-Hub or Library Genesis, ResearchGate offers a more ethical and legal route to accessing academic papers. 

ScienceOpen

ScienceOpen is a comprehensive repository that hosts a multitude of open-access research articles across various fields, from the social sciences to computer science. 

The process of downloading a research paper on ScienceOpen is remarkably straightforward. Since it’s an open-access platform, most of the papers are available to download as PDFs without any cost.

This means you can access high-quality, peer-reviewed academic research without encountering paywalls that are often a barrier in many other scientific platforms.

For instance, if you’re delving into the latest 2023 scientific papers in mathematics, ScienceOpen can be your go-to source. You can easily search for research papers using:

• Browsing through various open access journals featured on the site.

The direct download feature simplifies access to these papers, making it convenient for you to obtain the research you need.

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a digital library is an extensive repository of open-access, peer-reviewed journals, covering a wide array of subjects from humanities to nuclear science.

When you’re navigating DOAJ, you’ll discover that it’s not just a platform to download research papers; it’s a gateway to a world of academic research.

Each journal article listed is freely accessible, meaning you can download these scholarly articles without any cost or subscription.

The process is simple: search for research papers using specific keywords, subjects, or even DOAJ’s advanced search functionality that includes filters like:

• Language, or
• The year of publication.

For example, if you’re delving into the latest developments in scientific research in 2023, DOAJ allows you to refine your search to the most recent publications.

Once you find a relevant research paper, you can easily access the full text in PDF format through a direct download link. This is particularly useful for accessing high-quality, open-access research papers that are not always readily available on other platforms like Sci-Hub or Library Genesis.

PubMed hosts millions of research articles, primarily in the fields of medicine and life sciences, but also encompassing a broad range of scientific research.

When you’re on PubMed, you can search for research papers using:

• Authors, or
• Specific journal names.

While PubMed lists both open-access and subscription-based journal articles, it offers a unique feature for accessing papers for free.

If you’re looking for a particular research paper, say in the domain of computer science or social sciences from 2023, you can directly access its abstract on PubMed. For open access articles, a free full-text link is often available, allowing you to download the research paper in PDF format.

PubMed integrates with tools like Unpaywall and the Open Access Button. These browser extensions help you find open-access versions of the articles you’re interested in, bypassing the paywalls that often restrict access to scholarly literature.

While PubMed itself doesn’t provide direct download links for all articles, its connection with these tools and various open access repositories ensures that you, as a researcher, have greater access to scientific papers.

Sci-Hub (with Caution)

Sci-Hub, often dubbed the ‘Pirate Bay of Science,’ has been a game-changer in the scientific community since its inception by Alexandra Elbakyan in 2011.

It operates as a controversial, yet widely used platform providing free access to millions of research papers and academic articles that are typically locked behind paywalls.

As a researcher, you might find Sci-Hub an intriguing, albeit contentious, tool for accessing scholarly literature.

When you’re looking to download a research paper from Sci-Hub, the process is relatively straightforward. Say you need a journal article on computer science or a groundbreaking study in social sciences from 2023; you just need to have the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) of the paper.

By entering this DOI into Sci-Hub’s search bar, the website bypasses publisher paywalls, offering you direct download links to PDF versions of the articles.

It’s crucial to note that while Sci-Hub provides access to a vast repository of scientific research, its legality is under constant scrutiny. The platform operates via various proxy links and has been the subject of numerous legal battles with publishers and academic institutions.

Nevertheless, Sci-Hub remains a popular go-to for researchers and scientists globally, especially those without access to university libraries or digital archives.

While it opens doors to a wealth of knowledge, users should be aware of the ethical and legal implications of using such a service in their respective countries.

Wrapping Up: You Can Get Free Academic Papers 

The digital landscape offers a wealth of resources for accessing academic research without financial barriers. The platforms we share here provide an invaluable service to the scholarly community, democratising access to knowledge and fostering intellectual growth.

Whether you’re a seasoned researcher or a curious student, these websites bridge the gap between you and the vast world of academic literature, ensuring that the pursuit of knowledge remains an inclusive and equitable journey for all. Remember to consider the legal and ethical aspects when using these resources.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

We are here to help you navigate Academia as painlessly as possible. We are supported by our readers and by visiting you are helping us earn a small amount through ads and affiliate revenue - Thank you!

2024 © Academia Insider

Start your free trial

Arrange a trial for your organisation and discover why FSTA is the leading database for reliable research on the sciences of food and health.

REQUEST A FREE TRIAL

• Research Skills Blog

5 free and legal ways to get the full text of research articles

By Carol Hollier on 07-Apr-2021 13:23:17

1.  Use your library if you have one !

If you are affiliated with a university, you probably have free library access to the full text of millions of research articles.   The library will have subscribed to these journals on your behalf. The smartest thing you can do for accessing research articles is familiarize yourself with your own library.

• If you search a database your library will link from the records to the full text if they have it—all you need to do is click through the links.
• When they do not have a copy of an article, a university library can get it for you from another library. This inter-library loan service is usually free to users.
• Your library might use a browser extension like Lean Library or LibKey Nomad to link you to the library subscription or open access full text from wherever you are on the internet.
• Google Scholar lets you configure your account to get links straight to your library’s subscription copy of an article.  But remember--side-by-side to library subscriptions for legitimate research, Google Scholar includes links to articles published in predatory and unreliable journals that would be unwise to credit in your own work.  Learn more about predatory journals.

If you are not affiliated with a university library, there are still ways you can successfully—and legally—get the full text of research articles.

2.  Open Access browser extensions  

More and more research is published Open Access as governments around the world are mandating that research paid for by taxpayer money be freely available to those taxpayers.

Browser extensions have been created to make it easy to spot when the full text of an article is free.   Some of the best are CORE Discovery , Unpaywall and Open Access Button .

Learn more about difference between discovery and access and why it matters for good research: Where to search - Best Practice for Literature Searching - LibGuides at IFIS

3. Google Scholar

You can search the article title inside quotation marks on Google Scholar to see if a link to a copy of the article appears.   If it does, be sure to pay attention to what version of the article you are linking to, to be sure you are getting what you think you’re getting.  These links can lead to an article's published version of record, a manuscript version, or to a thesis or conference proceeding with the same title and author as the article you expected to find.   

4.  Researcher platforms

 A Google Scholar search might lead you to a researcher platform like Academia.edu or ResearchGate .   There, if you set up an account, you can sometimes download or request a copy of the text.  Again, pay attention to which version of the text you get!

5.  Write to the author

If you can’t get a copy by other means, you can write to an article’s corresponding author and (politely!) ask them to send you a copy. Their contact information, usually an email address, will be listed in the information you find about the article, either in a database record for the article or on the publishing journal’s page for it. Many authors are happy to share a copy of their work.

Three bonus ways that might work depending on where you live:

1.  A nearby university library might offer access to articles even if you do not work or study there.

Members of the public are sometimes allowed access to university journal subscriptions through visitor access or a walk-in user service. You usually need to use the collections from a dedicated computer terminal located in a library and may need to make an appointment before you go. Do your research before showing up to make sure you bring the correct documents and equipment (like a flash drive) along.

2.  Try your public library

In some countries, public libraries partner with publishers to give the public access to research articles.   In the UK, for instance, many public libraries participate in the Access to Research scheme, which gives members of the public on-site access to over 30 million academic articles. Contact your local public library to learn what is available to you.

3.  Research4Life

In other countries, your institution might have access to a massive collection of research articles and databases through the publisher/library/United Nations agency initiative Research4Life . Check to see if you already have access, and if not, if your institution might be eligible to join. Membership is only available on an organizational or institutional level.  

Remember —even though you now have a lot of strategies for finding the full text of articles, research should never be led by the articles you can access most easily.

Good research is driven by first figuring out what articles are most relevant to your question and then getting the full text of what you need. One of the best ways to do this is to use a good discipline-specific database, like FSTA for the sciences of food and health.  

Learn more about difference between discovery and access and why it matters for good research:

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

• FSTA - Food Science & Technology Abstracts
• IFIS Collections
• Resources Hub
• Diversity Statement
• Sustainability Commitment
• Company news
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use for IFIS Collections

Ground Floor, 115 Wharfedale Road,  Winnersh Triangle, Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 5RB

Get in touch with IFIS

© International Food Information Service (IFIS Publishing) operating as IFIS – All Rights Reserved     |     Charity Reg. No. 1068176     |     Limited Company No. 3507902     |     Designed by Blend

“The only truly modern academic research engine”

Oa.mg is a search engine for academic papers, specialising in open access. we have over 250 million papers in our index..

Eight Ways (and More) To Find and Access Research Papers

This blog is part of our Research Smarter series. You’ll discover the various search engines, databases and data repositories to help you along the way. Click on any of the following links for in an in-depth look at how to find relevant research papers, journals , and authors for your next project using the Web of Science™. You can  also check out our ultimate guides here , which include tips to speed up the writing process.

If you’re in the early stages of your research career, you’re likely struggling to learn all you can about your chosen field and evaluate your options. You also need an easy and convenient way to find the right research papers upon which to build your own work and keep you on the proper path toward your goals.

Fortunately, most institutions have access to thousands of journals, so your first step should be to be to check with library staff  and find out what is available via your institutional subscriptions.

For those who may be unfamiliar with other means of access, this blog post – the first in a series devoted to helping you “research smarter” – will provide a sampling of established data sources for scientific research. These include search engines, databases, and data repositories.

Search Engines and Databases

You may have already discovered that the process of searching for research papers offers many choices and scenarios. Some search engines, for example, can be accessed free of charge. Others require a subscription. The latter group generally includes services that index the contents of thousands of published journals, allowing for detailed searches on data fields such as author name, institution, title or keyword, and even funding sources. Because many journals operate on a subscription model too, the process of obtaining full-text versions of papers can be complicated.

On the other hand, a growing number of publishers follow the practice of Open Access (OA) , making their journal content freely available. Similarly, some authors publish their results in the form of preprints, posting them to preprint servers for immediate and free access. These repositories, like indexing services, differ in that some concentrate in a given discipline or broad subject area, while others cover the full range of research.

Search Engines

Following is a brief selection of reputable search engines by which to locate articles relevant to your research.

Google Scholar is a free search engine that provides access to research in multiple disciplines. The sources include academic publishers, universities, online repositories, books, and even judicial opinions from court cases. Based on its indexing, Google Scholar provides citation counts to allow authors and others to track the impact of their work.  

The Directory of Open Access Journals ( DOAJ ) allows users to search and retrieve the article contents of nearly 10,000 OA journals in science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and humanities. All journals must adhere to quality-control standards, including peer review.

PubMed , maintained by the US National Library of Medicine, is a free search engine covering the biomedical and life sciences. Its coverage derives primarily from the MEDLINE database, covering materials as far back as 1951.

JSTOR affords access to more than 12 million journal articles in upwards of 75 disciplines, providing full-text searches of more than 2,000 journals, and access to more than 5,000 OA books.

Selected Databases

The following selection samples a range of resources, including databases which, as discussed above, index the contents of journals either in a given specialty area or the full spectrum of research. Others listed below offer consolidated coverage of multiple databases. Your institution is likely subscribed to a range of research databases, speak to your librarian to see which databases you have access to, and how to go about your search.

Web of Science includes The Web of Science Core Collection, which covers more than 20,000 carefully selected journals, along with books, conference proceedings, and other sources. The indexing also captures citation data, permitting users to follow the thread of an idea or development over time, as well as to track a wide range of research-performance metrics. The Web of Science also features EndNote™ Click , a free browser plugin that offers one-click access to the best available legal and legitimate full-text versions of papers. See here for our ultimate guide to finding relevant research papers on the Web of Science .

Science.gov covers the vast territory of United States federal science, including more than 60 databases and 2,200-plus websites. The many allied agencies whose research is reflected include NASA, the US Department of Agriculture, and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

CiteSeerx is devoted primarily to information and computer science. The database includes a feature called Autonomous Citation Indexing, designed to extract citations and create a citation index for literature searching and evaluation.

Preprint and Data Repositories

An early form of OA literature involved authors, as noted above,  making electronic, preprint versions of their papers freely available. This practice has expanded widely today. You can find archives devoted to a single main specialty area, as well as general repositories connected with universities and other institutions.

The specialty archive is perhaps best exemplified by arXiv (conveniently pronounced “archive,” and one of the earliest examples of a preprint repository). Begun in 1991 as a physics repository, ArXiv has expanded to embrace mathematics, astronomy, statistics, economics, and other disciplines. The success of ArXiv spurred the development of, for example, bioArXiv devoted to an array of topics within biology, and for chemistry, ChemRxiv .

Meanwhile, thousands of institutional repositories hold a variety of useful materials. In addition to research papers, these archives store raw datasets, graphics, notes, and other by-products of investigation. Currently, the Registry of Open Access Repositories lists more than 4,700 entries.

Reach Out Yourself?

If the resources above don’t happen to result in a free and full-text copy of the research you seek, you can also try reaching out to the authors yourself.

To find who authored a paper, you can search indexing platforms like the Web of Science , or research profiling systems like Publons™ , or ResearchGate , then look to reach out to the authors directly.

So, although the sheer volume of research can pose a challenge to identifying and securing needed papers, plenty of options are available.

Related posts

Clarivate welcomes the barcelona declaration on open research information.

Demonstrating socioeconomic impact – a historical perspective of ancient wisdom and modern challenges

Unlocking U.K. research excellence: Key insights from the Research Professional News Live summit

info This is a space for the teal alert bar.

notifications This is a space for the yellow alert bar.

• National University

Ask Us! National University Library

• NCU Office of the Registrar
• NU Library (formerly NCU)
• 2 Academic Success Center
• 44 Business Research
• 1 Database Help
• 39 Database Problems
• 64 Database Questions
• 7 Database Subscriptions
• 5 Dissertation Center Documents
• 67 Dissertation Research
• 13 Ebook Central Questions
• 30 Education Research
• 10 Evaluating Information
• 24 Interlibrary Loan
• 14 Legal Research
• 28 Library Access
• 1 Library Guides
• 2 Library Workshops
• 82 Locate items in the Library
• 43 Locate Items Outside the Library
• 1 Login Help
• 22 Marriage & Family Therapy Research
• 1 Off-Site Access
• 22 OpenAthens
• 17 Organizing Research and Citations
• 1 Psychology and Counseling Research
• 23 Psychology Research
• 1 Publications
• 44 Reference Management
• 33 RefWorks
• 2 Research Consultations
• 126 Research Techniques
• 7 Service Desk
• 3 Technical Assistance
• 19 Technical Issues
• 10 Tests & Measurements
• 10 Textbooks

NU LibChat Widget

Can't find what you need? Submit a ticket through email, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

What is ResearchGate and Academia.edu? How do I retrieve full-text articles from these sites?

ResearchGate  and  Academia.edu  are social networking sites for researchers to share their work and discover other researchers' work. The University of California Office of Scholarly Communication provides in-depth information about how these commercial sites compare to open-access repositories. For details,  click here . ResearchGate and Academia.edu may be most valuable when trying to find other researchers in your field conducting similar studies, or for providing access to your completed papers. However, please keep in mind that these and similar sites contain only a small number of publications and many appear not to have been updated for some time. Additionally, unlike Google Scholar, the Library does not have an arrangement with ResearchGate or Academia.edu to link out to full-text documents. For instructions on linking Google Scholar to the Library,  click here . ResearchGate and Academic.edu may not the best resources for retrieving full-text scholarly articles, but you may also review abstract or citation information for potential resources beneficial to your own research. Still, when searching online, you may encounter full-text access to articles from these sites.

Follow the instructions below to access full-text articles from ResearchGate and Academia.edu.

Still need help?

Didn't get the answer you needed? Contact a librarian through email, phone, SMS, or chat for personalized assistance!

© Copyright 2024 National University. All Rights Reserved.

Privacy Policy | Consumer Information

• Advanced search
• Peer review

Discover relevant research today

Advance your research field in the open

Reach new audiences and maximize your readership

ScienceOpen puts your research in the context of

Publications

For Publishers

ScienceOpen offers content hosting, context building and marketing services for publishers. See our tailored offerings

• For academic publishers  to promote journals and interdisciplinary collections
• For open access journals  to host journal content in an interactive environment
• For university library publishing  to develop new open access paradigms for their scholars
• For scholarly societies  to promote content with interactive features

For Institutions

ScienceOpen offers state-of-the-art technology and a range of solutions and services

• For faculties and research groups  to promote and share your work
• For research institutes  to build up your own branding for OA publications
• For funders  to develop new open access publishing paradigms
• For university libraries to create an independent OA publishing environment

For Researchers

Make an impact and build your research profile in the open with ScienceOpen

• Search and discover relevant research in over 93 million Open Access articles and article records
• Share your expertise and get credit by publicly reviewing any article
• Publish your poster or preprint and track usage and impact with article- and author-level metrics
• Create a topical Collection  to advance your research field

Create a Journal powered by ScienceOpen

Launching a new open access journal or an open access press? ScienceOpen now provides full end-to-end open access publishing solutions – embedded within our smart interactive discovery environment. A modular approach allows open access publishers to pick and choose among a range of services and design the platform that fits their goals and budget.

Continue reading “Create a Journal powered by ScienceOpen”   

What can a Researcher do on ScienceOpen?

ScienceOpen provides researchers with a wide range of tools to support their research – all for free. Here is a short checklist to make sure you are getting the most of the technological infrastructure and content that we have to offer. What can a researcher do on ScienceOpen? Continue reading “What can a Researcher do on ScienceOpen?”   

ScienceOpen on the Road

Upcoming events.

• 20 – 22 February – ResearcherToReader Conferece

Past Events

• 09 November – Webinar for the Discoverability of African Research
• 26 – 27 October – Attending the Workshop on Open Citations and Open Scholarly Metadata
• 18 – 22 October – ScienceOpen at Frankfurt Book Fair.
• 27 – 29 September – Attending OA Tage, Berlin .
• 25 – 27 September – ScienceOpen at Open Science Fair
• 19 – 21 September – OASPA 2023 Annual Conference .
• 22 – 24 May – ScienceOpen sponsoring Pint of Science, Berlin.
• 16-17 May – ScienceOpen at 3rd AEUP Conference.
• 20 – 21 April – ScienceOpen attending Scaling Small: Community-Owned Futures for Open Access Books .
• 18 – 20 April – ScienceOpen at the London Book Fair .

What is ScienceOpen?

• Smart search and discovery within an interactive interface
• Researcher promotion and ORCID integration
• Open evaluation with article reviews and Collections
• Business model based on providing services to publishers

Live Twitter stream

Some of our partners:.