How-to
Step-by-step guides to getting hold of a research paper legally and for free.
11 guides
How to Cite a Research Paper in APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard
How to cite a journal article in APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard style, with a worked example in each, and which version to cite when you read a free copy.
How to Read JSTOR Articles for Free, Legally
Legal ways to read JSTOR articles without a subscription: the free reading account and its limit, open content, public and university libraries and alumni access.
How to Read IEEE Papers for Free, Legally
Legal ways to read a paywalled IEEE Xplore paper: author copies on arXiv and university sites, open-access journals, conference archives and library access.
How to Read Nature Articles for Free, Legally
Legal ways to read a paywalled paper from Nature and other Springer Nature journals: repository copies, preprints, free read-only links and open-access titles.
How to Read ScienceDirect and Elsevier Articles for Free, Legally
Legal ways to read a paywalled Elsevier article on ScienceDirect: open-access and open-archive articles, repository copies, author share links and more.
How to Read a Research Paper: A Guide for Students and Non-Experts
A practical method for reading a scientific paper: what each section is for, the order to read them in, and what to do with the parts you do not understand.
How to Get Research Papers Through a Library, Even If You Are Not a Student
How to read paywalled journal articles through a library: university logins, alumni and walk-in access, public libraries and inter-library loan.
How to Find Free PDFs on Google Scholar
How to use Google Scholar to find a free PDF of a research paper: the PDF links, the All versions list, library links and the search tricks that help.
How to Email an Author for a Copy of Their Paper (With a Template)
How to ask a researcher for a copy of a paywalled paper: who to write to, how to find their email address, what to say, and a short template you can copy.
Legal Sci-Hub Alternatives: 7 Ways to Get Papers That Still Work
Sci-Hub has added no new papers since 2020 and is blocked in many countries. These legal alternatives find free copies of research papers, including recent ones.
How to Read Research Papers for Free, Legally: 7 Ways That Work
Seven legal ways to read a paywalled research paper without paying: open-access copies, preprints, PubMed Central, emailing the author, libraries and more.