Open Access Tools and Resources
Comprehensive List of OA Tools
- Tools for OAA list, currently under development, from the OA Directory covering citation impact, current awareness, directories, dissemination, quality evaluation, harvesters, open licenses, policy, and more.
Journal Tools
- SHERPA/RoMEO95% of academic publishers offer standing permission for OA repository publication for some version of a work; check a journal's publishing policy here.
- Beyond Beall's List: Better Understanding Predatory PublishersExplains and contextualizes so-called "predatory" publishers.
- DOI SystemPaste a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) into the search box to resolve a DOI name. Results turn up OA and non-OA articles.
- Think, Check, SubmitA tool to help you choose the right journal for your research.
- HowOpenIsIt? Open Access Spectrum (OAS) GuideA guide to help users understand the components of OA journals; learn the differences between more vs. less open journals; and decide where to publish their work.
- BASEOperated by Bielefeld University Library, BASE is one of the world's largest search engines for academic OA web resources.
- Google Scholar
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One of the best and easiest-to-use tools for finding open access versions of journal articles. If an article is freely available — on the publisher’s site, on the author’s homepage, or in a disciplinary or institutional repository — Google Scholar will usually find it.
Book Tools
- Online Books PageUPenn's FAQ + tools for determining whether a book can go online.
Copyright
- Creative CommonsA nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free, easy-to-use tools.
OA Policy Tools
- ROARMAP (Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies)A searchable registry of open access policies and mandates adopted by universities, research institutions and research funders.
- SHERPA/JulietSearch research funders' open access policies.
Browser Extensions
Following are two browser extensions that make it easy to find legally available OA versions of articles. Read more about them in the article "Unpaywall and Open Access Button: Browser Extensions for Fast Access" on the GC Library's News & Events blog.
- Unpaywall
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An open database of millions of free scholarly articles that "harvest[s] Open Access content from over 50,000 publishers and repositories, and make[s] it easy to find, track, and use." - Open Access Button
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A Firefox browser extension that allows you to freely and legally obtain research articles instantly or automatically request them from authors.