3 Ways to Get Research Papers Without Paying

Research Papers Without Paying

The information available to researchers and students today is staggering. However, a vast majority of this information is locked behind academic paywalls that require a subscription (or the hefty single article fee) to break through. This can be frustrating, especially if you’re writing a paper or journal club and need access to a particular article to support your argument or research methods.

While this can be a major headache, it’s important to remember that there are plenty of ways around these paywalls. Here are three ways to get research papers without paying (the last one may be a bit of a stretch, but it’s still worth trying):

First and foremost, try searching your university or college’s library website or databases Homeworkmarket. They should have a wealth of research materials available to you. Many academic libraries have subscribed to journals that contain the full text of articles. These are called “depositaries” and often include a PDF of the published version of record, an accepted manuscript, or even a thesis or conference proceedings that contains the same author and article title.

3 Ways to Get Research Papers Without Paying

Additionally, a lot of universities are moving towards open access publishing and self-archiving practices. This means that more and more of their publications are being made freely readable through Gold Open Access or Green Open Access. This includes preprint servers, institutional and subject repositories, and academic social networks and platforms. Some of these platforms, such as arXiv, have a streamlined search and download option for individual articles.

Finally, keep an eye out for authors’ personal websites or blogs. This is becoming more commonplace, and a good way to gain access to their work. Many researchers also maintain lab group pages on their institutions’ websites, where they often share their work in a view-only mode. Some publishers like Springer Nature are now allowing their authors to post links to their work in these places (including on social media) without it being considered a copyright violation.

Finally, there are several aggregators out there that can help you find and download research papers without paying (or breaking the law). Our Research [1], Unpaywall [2], and Sci Hub are the largest of these, with Our Research being the most comprehensive. Other aggregators like Paperity [3] are popping up, but they’re all relatively new. It’s a good idea to check out a few of these before choosing one to use, and be sure to verify that any aggregator you choose is legitimate. Otherwise, you’re risking downloading a paper from a predatory journal that can have serious consequences for your scholarship or career.