Need Help? Ask Us!
|
Chat requires JavaScript.
|
|
faculty, and staff only. |
||||||
|
The Libraries' chat reference service is available 24/7. When HC Librarians are not available, librarians from other American Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) or ChatStaff.us librarians will be available to answer your questions. More information about AJCU Virtual Reference
CrossWorks
CrossWorks is the institutional repository of Holy Cross. It "collects, preserves, and provides access to the intellectual, creative, and scholarly work of the College of the Holy Cross community as well as to the unique materials of the Archives and Special Collections. This open access digital repository is a service of the College of the Holy Cross Libraries. "
Find Free Articles
Even if you can’t get access to resources through a library, there are many high quality, peer-reviewed articles that you can access for free online. These resources may include journal articles that are free to read by anyone or articles that authors have made available themselves so that others can freely access their work. Resources that are made openly available are called open access. You can learn more about the movement to make all research open access on our Open Access Guide.
So, how do you find these resources?
- Search databases that collect free resources. A list of selected databases is below.
- Install a browser plugin that will help you find free full text as you’re searching online.
Browser Plugins for Finding Free Full Text
These browser plugins will help you find free full text of articles you’re looking for online. Please note that these plugins are developed and maintained by third-party groups and your use of them is governed by their terms of service.
- Unpaywall
When you’re viewing an article page, the Unpaywall padlock icon appears on the right-hand side of your screen, green if freely available, grey if not. Click on the padlock to download a PDF of the article. Works in Chrome and Firefox. - Open Access Button
When you’re viewing an article page, click on the Open Access Button icon in your toolbar to download a PDF of the article. If unavailable, the OA Button helps you send a request for access to the author. Works in Chrome and Firefox. - Google Scholar Button
When you’re viewing an article page, click on the Google Scholar button in your toolbar. If you can download the article for free, there will be a link to the PDF in a pop-up dialog box. Works in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
Free Online Resources
Research Databases:
Below is a list of selected databases for searching for free resources. This is only a subset of the many collections that are available online. There are extensive lists of freely available databases maintained by Rutgers University Libraries and Oregon State University Library. You can also consult the Open Access Directory’s list of open access collections by discipline.
General Databases
- BASESearch engine for academic research, where 60% of content is free to access
Natural Sciences & Environmental Studies
- AGRICOLAAGRICultural OnLine Access indexes all aspects of "agriculture and allied disciplines," from "animal and veterinarian sciences" to "aquaculture and fisheries." AGRICOLA is two databases: the NAL Catalog (books, audiovisual material, and more) and the Article Citation Database. Produced by the National Agricultural Library for the US Department of Agriculture. Coverage varies.
- arXiv (Physics, Math) Databases like this one collect preprints, or the first drafts of articles. Many of these drafts will not change substantially before they are published, so they’re a good source to use to determine whether the published article will be helpful to you.
- bioRxiv (Biology) Databases like this one collect preprints, or the first drafts of articles. Many of these drafts will not change substantially before they are published, so they’re a good source to use to determine whether the published article will be helpful to you.
- ChemRxiv (Chemistry) Databases like this one collect preprints, or the first drafts of articles. Many of these drafts will not change substantially before they are published, so they’re a good source to use to determine whether the published article will be helpful to you.
- GreenFILEEnvironmental Studies
Education
- ERICEducation
- Teacher Reference CenterEducation
History
- British History OnlineWorld History
- European Views of the Americas: 1493-1750World History
Humanities
- Perseus Digital LibraryClassics
- CAIRSS for MusicMusic
- Papal Encyclicals OnlineReligious Studies / Catholic Studies
- CORE Databases like this one collect preprints, or the first drafts of articles. Many of these drafts will not change substantially before they are published, so they’re a good source to use to determine whether the published article will be helpful to you.
Miscellaneous
- LISTA (Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts)Information Science
Medicine & Health Professions
- PILOTS: Published International Literature On Traumatic StressPTSD / Healthcare
- Cogprints (Psychology, Neuroscience, Linguistics) Databases like this one collect preprints, or the first drafts of articles. Many of these drafts will not change substantially before they are published, so they’re a good source to use to determine whether the published article will be helpful to you.
- PubMedHealthcare
- ScienceOpenDatabase that searches over 49 million freely available articles
Academic Journal Collections:
- HighWire PressFull-text archive of scholarly, open-access journals
E-Books:
- Digital Book IndexLinks to over 165,000 books (140,000 are free.)
- EuropeanaA portal for cultural materials -- images, sounds and videos as well as texts (including digitized books) -- drawn from libraries, archives, museums and more throughout Europe. Everything in Europeana is free to access.
- GallicaThe digital library of the Biblotheque Nationale de France, providing access to 2+ million documents, including many rare items. The collection encompasses a variety of documents, including images, sounds, and maps as well as books and original manuscripts, among others.
- Google BooksThousands of books--many scanned from major libraries in the U.S.
- HathiTrust Digital LibraryHathiTrust is a repository of digitized books drawn from major research libraries in the United States. The library contains millions of books of all different dates and subjects. Certain parts of the collection are restricted, but many books are free online.
- Open WorldCatLocates books, videos, etc. in libraries near you.
- Project GutenbergDownload over 33,000 ebooks to a pc, e-reader, phone, etc.
Take Note!
Academia.edu, ResearchGate and SciHub
ResearchGate/Academia.edu
ResearchGate and Academia.edu are for-profit sites that are popular among researchers for networking and posting PDFs of their articles. You may find that articles that you’re searching for have been posted on these sites. However, two words of caution:
- Many of the articles that are posted on these sites are posted in violation of copyright law. Major publishers have successfully filed a lawsuit against ResearchGate, although the company is appealing.
- In order to download PDFs, you may be prompted to create an account with these sites. Keep in mind that these are for-profit sites that can use your personal data in many ways and change their terms of service at any time.
Sci-Hub
When searching for articles, you may hear about Sci-Hub. This is a site that provides access to research papers without any regard to copyright and often infringing on copyright. Sci-Hub is the subject of numerous lawsuits by publishers, and any use by individuals of Sci-Hub may constitute copyright infringement. Read more about Sci-Hub in the New York Times analysis "Should All Research Papers Be Free?"