how to read research paper for free

• Open Access Button

For Libraries

The Open Access Button is now built by OA.Works . Same people, new name! Read more about our rebrand.

The Open Data Button has now merged with the Open Access Button. Your account and request will stay the same, but you'll need to get the new plugin. For more on the changes see our blog .

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Avoid Paywalls, Request Research.

Free, legal research articles delivered instantly or automatically requested from authors..

Searching thousands of repositories for access !

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Get around this paywall in a flash: DOI: 10.1126/science.196.4287.293 URL: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/196/4287/293/tab-pdf PMC (Pubmed Central) ID: PMC4167664 Pubmed ID: 17756097 Title: Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase: a two-layered, square-shaped molecule of symmetry 422 Citation: Baker, T. S., Eisenberg, D., & Eiserling, F. (1977). Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase: A Two-Layered, Square-Shaped Molecule of Symmetry 422. Science, 196(4287), 293-295. doi:10.1126/science.196.4287.293 or try your favourite citation format (Harvard, Bibtex, etc).

Check out some of our latest requests .

Finding Available Research

Give us a scholarly paper and we’ll search thousands of sources with millions of articles to link you to free, legal, full text articles instantly.

Requesting Research

If we can’t get you access, we’ll start a request for you. We request articles from authors, and guide them on making the work available to you and everyone who needs it.

You can do this from our website, browser extensions, tools for libraries or our API . Take your pick or learn more.

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• 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:

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Get Scholarly Articles for Free

Harvard Library has paid for your access to hundreds of websites — from the New York Review of Books to the Oxford English Dictionary to the journal Nature: Chemical Biology . You just need to connect via HarvardKey.

The library offers many tools to quickly check if you have free online access. Each tool has features that you may find helpful at different times. Most people mix and match for different purposes. Find the one that's right for you.

Google Scholar

Get access directly from Google Scholar results.

• Adds the "Try Harvard Library" link to your Google Scholar results
• Selects the best access point for you

Browser Extensions

Adding a browser extension is a way to get articles Harvard Library pays for - no matter what website you're using.

Lean Library

Install the Lean Library plugin to automate access.

• Checks every website that you visit and reloads via Harvard Key automatically
• Notifies you if an ebook or online article is available via Harvard
• No action required: Lean Library is always working in the background
• May sign you out of personally subscribed accounts

Check Harvard Library Bookmarklet

Get one-click access with the Check Harvard Library Bookmark.

• Works on most browsers, including on your phone
• Reloads the page you're on via Harvard Key
• You're in control: use the bookmark when you want to check for access

Check Harvard Library Bookmark

Stay current with your favorite academic journals, preview the table of contents, and never miss a new article. Harvard Library offers free accounts.

Library Access via VPN

Harvard vpn.

Don't want to keep logging in using HarvardKey? Searching for articles while abroad? You can get the same access as a campus computer by installing and configuring a Harvard VPN.

• Generally removes the need to log in to Harvard Key
• Some sites won't recognize VPN, some sites only work on VPN
• Can be helpful for access outside of the United States

Instructions on how to install the VPN client (via HUIT)

Ask a Librarian

Looking for another type of access or free articles? Find answers to commonly asked questions and ask your own. Library staff members are also available via chat during posted hours.