Finding Open Access works

Use these sites, or alternatively install these browser extensions or plug-ins, to search for legitimate open access versions of research publications.

• Unpaywall:
  • Search Unpaywall’s database of millions of open access articles by entering the DOI for an article
  • Install the Chrome/Firefox browser extension, to easily locate open access versions of paywalled articles in scholarly sites.
• CORE Discovery: This CORE service processes information from a wide number of authoritative scholarly data sources to discover, download and validate information about free availability of articles. CORE is a not-for-profit service delivered by The OPen University and Jisc. 
• Open Access Button (OA Button):
  • Enter an article’s URL, DOI (a unique identifier), title, or other information to check for free and legal open access versions via the website.
  • Install the free Chrome and Firefox extensions. These extensions automatically search for open access copies. When an open access copy is not found, the OA Button facilitates contact with the author.
• Information about Open Access journals is also available on Ulrichsweb - use the filter to narrow the results to open access journals.

Institutional repositories are online collections of institutional research outputs. They provide access to research material but also might include teaching materials, documentation of the activities of the institution etc. The majority of institutional repositories are built using open-source software. They are harvested by major search engines.

The Directory of Open Access Repositories - OpenDOAR and Open Access Directory - OAD provide a list of institutional repositories as well as subject-based repositories.

Discipline based repository examples

Humanities

• History Data Service  - From the University of Essex, preserves and promotes the use of digital resources, which result from or support historical research, learning and teaching.
• OLAC (Open Language Archives Community) - is an international partnership of institutions and individuals who are creating a worldwide virtual library of language resources.
• Literary and Linguistic Data Service – the new home of the Oxford Text Archive. Hosted by Oxford University, it provides repository services for literary and linguistic datasets.
• Social Science
• Social Science Research Network (SSRN) - promote  social science research and is composed of a number of specialized research networks in each of the social sciences.
• RePEc Research Papers in Economics -  is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 75 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics.

Science

• PubMed Central - PMC is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive, provide open access to biomedical and life sciences journal literature, with 12 months embargo on some of them.
• BioRxiv - (pronounced "bio-archive") is a free online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences. It is operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a not-for-profit research and educational institution.
• arXiv.org - Hosted by Cornell University Library, provide open access to e-prints in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology, Quantitative Finance and Statistics.

Bond University repository

The Bond University Research Portal showcases the scholarly output of the University's researchers.  All academics are invited to enter the details and upload copyright-compliant versions of their open access research publications into Pure, which provides each researcher with a personal dashboard and a public researcher profile on the Research Portal.    

The Library's Scholarly Publications team offers Pure training and support, open access information, and assistance with copyright queries ensuring that Bond authors are well supported to meet the open access publication requirements of research grant funding agencies.

To deposit a full-text copy of a work into Pure, authors must hold the copyright to that work, or it must be a version of the work the publisher allows to be made available in an institution's repository. 

The Author Rights page of this guide has more information, or please contact the Manager, Scholarly Publications and Copyright.

All open access works in Pure display the Open Access (open padlock) symbol and may be accompanied by a Creative Commons licence.