Reliable access to academic sources is beneficial for students, researchers, and educators in their work, if those experiences incorporate empirical evidence. Accessing scholarly articles and research papers can be challenging, especially when many academic journals are behind paywalls; and subscriptions are only provided through institutions. Here is an extensive guide to the top 10 trustworthy sources of free academic content, what the site has to offer that is 'custom' and unique to that website, and how you can use the website.
1. Google Scholar
Google Scholar is an effective and easy to use academic search engine that indexes scholarly literature across many disciplines. Users can search for academic journal articles, theses, books, conference papers, and patents. Although not all search results are available in full-text, Google Scholar usually will have links to free PDFs that can be hosted on a university repository or open-access journal. Google Scholar's features of citation tracking, and related articles make it useful for constructing a literature review and keeping track of research trends.
2. CORE
CORE collects millions of open access research articles from repositories and journals globally. With its advanced search filters by discipline, publication type and date, CORE is useful for discovering peer-reviewed full text articles. CORE is an especially important source for anyone wanting to cover the complete universe of global research outputs including preprints and uploads from institutional repositories.
3. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a quality controlled directory of peer-reviewed, open access journals. DOAJ only indexes journals that meet a strict set of criteria. Just like thousands of the journals DOAJ indexes, the DOAJ, can be used as a reliable source to find high-quality academic articles without paywalls. DOAJ currently indexes journal articles from a wide range of subject areas, including science, technology, medicine, social science, and the humanities, among other subjects. DOAJ has indexed hundreds of thousands articles, and all indexed content can be freely accessed.
4. Science.gov
Science.gov is a gateway to U.S. government science information, searching more than 60 databases and more than 2,200 scientific websites. Science.gov is so useful for research about STEM subjects, or research that was funded or produced by the government. Science.gov searches and retrieves results from multiple sources, including technical reports, journal articles, and data sets, from members of the federal executive branch that published the research or analysis.
5. JSTOR (Open Content)
Despite being primarily known for its subscription model, JSTOR also provides a substantial number of open access articles, books, and primary sources. If you use the “Content I Can Access” filter, you will find thousands of free resources using the platform, particularly in the humanities and social sciences. JSTOR maintains trustworthy archiving that protects access to these materials for the foreseeable future.
6. ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
ERIC is the premier database for education research, offering free access to peer-reviewed articles, research reports, conference papers, and policy documents. Its rigorous selection process ensures that all indexed materials are credible and relevant to educators, policymakers, and students interested in education and related fields.
7. ResearchGate
ResearchGate is a professional network for researchers, where millions of academic papers are shared directly by authors. While many of the publications are available for download, any papers not freely accessible can be requested directly from authors. ResearchGate encourages collaboration and discussion between colleagues on the other side of the world.
8. Unpaywall
Unpaywall is a browser extension and database that allows users to find legal, open access versions of paywalled research articles. Unpaywall searches institutional repository and open access journal websites to give users quick and ethical access to millions of scholarly papers, a powerful resource and useful tool for research if you often find yourself against a paywall.
9. ScienceOpen
ScienceOpen is a large discovery platform with over 60 million open access articles that openly supports transparency and collaboration with open peer review, article recommendations, and ways to interact with researchers. ScienceOpen is also useful for individuals and researchers as they connect with the scientific community, and for those who wish to access a variety of research outputs.
10. Digital Commons Network
The Digital Commons Network is curated by university librarians and connects users with articles, peer-reviewed articles, dissertations, book chapters, etc. from hundreds of universities, learning institutions around the world. Influencing publications from all disciplines, the Digital Commons Network also dominates law, business, education, and engineering. The Digital Commons Network only includes open-access articles.
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