Resources for Research and Doctoral Students
What is Open Access?
Open Access resources are freely available sources of knowledge (mainly academic in content), which can include academic journal articles, books, conference reports and PhD theses.
The open access movement's purpose is to increase and encourage sharing of knowledge to help further research.
Suggested Web Browser Extensions
A list of online resources and tools to help you find openly available research. These tools are browser extensions. This means they can be added to your internet browser and provide one-click access to articles.
 Core Discovery |
| CORE harvests repositories and journal websites to create the world's biggest database of open access research articles. The CORE browser extension provides one-click access to a free, full-text version of a journal article. |
 Endnote Click |
| Chrome and Firefox extension. One click access to millions of research papers. EndNote Click helps you get to your full-text PDFs faster by securely connecting you to your library's journal subscriptions and open access content. |
 Google Scholar Button |
| Chrome, Firefox, and Safari extension. Works with your Google Scholar settings. Look up papers from citations, cite papers, or search via the button. |
 Open Access Button |
| Chrome extension: The next time you can't access the research you need, use the Open Access Button. The Button searches thousands of sources to get you instant, legal access to articles. |
 PubPeer |
| This plugin indicates PubPeer comments wherever they appear. A lightweight plugin to install and forget about. You will only notice that the plugin exists when it alerts you that an article has comments on PubPeer. PubPeer can also mark retraction articles. |
 Unpaywall |
| Chrome & Firefox extension to find available versions of a published article. Unpaywall is run by Impactstory, a nonprofit dedicated to making scholarship more accessible to everyone. Open is our passion. So it's only natural our source code is open, too. |
Open Access Search Engines for Journals and Dissertations
- BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine) This link opens in a new window
Search tool for discovering academic publications and resources, particularly Open Access publications.
- CORE : the World’s Largest Collection of Open Access Research Papers This link opens in a new window
The mission of CORE (COnnecting REpositories) is to “aggregate all open access research outputs from repositories and journals worldwide and make them available to the public. In this way CORE facilitates free unrestricted access to research for all” (website). The CORE Portal allows to search and navigate scientific publications and open access journal articles aggregated from a wide range of Open Access Repositories (OARs). CORE also includes doctoral theses held in repositories globally.
- Directory Of Open Access Books This link opens in a new window
Searchable directory of open access e-books. It is open to all publishers who publish academic, peer reviewed books in open access.
- Directory Of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) This link opens in a new window
Freely available full-text online journals from all disciplines. Searchable and browsable.
- Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) This link opens in a new window
Provides a search engine for discovering online theses and dissertations worldwide. Also provides advice to authors and researchers on creating online-friendly theses and dissertations. To find existing theses and dissertations use the ETD Search menu on the site.
- Oxford Open Access Journals This link opens in a new windowOpen Access journals articles published by Oxford University Press, covering computing, science, law, medicine and social sciences. Enter a subject under 'Modify Search' to narrow down the display to your required subject.
- Project MUSE (Open Access and other selected material only) This link opens in a new window
Project MUSE is a platform operated by Johns Hopkins University in the USA providing access to a range of Open Access books, with a particular focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences.