How to Find Scholarly Articles Online

Co-authored by Kim Gillingham, MA and Jennifer Mueller, JD

Last Updated: October 21, 2021 References Approved

When you have a research project – whether for work, school, or some other purpose – you want the most reliable and up-to-date information. Scholarly articles are some of the best resources for a research project. With a little bit of work, you can find plenty of scholarly articles online for free, as well as other reliable resources, such as government publications. Especially if you find references online, make sure you examine the material critically to evaluate its quality.^{[1]
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Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Searching for Free Articles Online

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Try Google Scholar. You can access Google Scholar through http://scholar.google.com. In countries other than the United States, search for "Google Scholar" to get your local page. Through this search page, you can look through numerous journals, theses, abstracts, and articles covering a wide range of disciplines. ^{[2]
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- Use advanced search options to get the best results. You likely won't have the same success if you use key words or plain language searches like you would on any other internet search engine.
- Your results will be a list of citations in order of relevance. Be sure to check the dates, since3 they won't be ordered chronologically. Click a result to get publication information. If it's available, you can view the full text free of charge.
2
Visit the DOAJ. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) provides a number of scholarly journal articles that you can access free of charge. The DOAJ includes scientific and academic journals covering a variety of fields, and written in many languages.^{[3]
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- All of the articles on the DOAJ are completely open access, meaning you can read or print the full text of the articles free of charge.
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Use discipline-specific search engines. There are numerous scholarly search engines that are focused on a particular discipline, such as science or history. The results you find may allow you to read the full text of articles for free, or read an abstract and pay to download the full text.^{[4]
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- For example, if you're doing a science research project, you might look for articles on SciSeek or SciCentral.
- You can search for these websites online, or ask a college professor or research librarian for some recommendations.
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Check out the websites of individual academics. If you know the name of a prominent professor in the discipline you're researching, you may be able to find copies of their work on their own website or university profile.^{[5]
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- Most professors have a list of all of their publications. Depending on the policy of the publisher, they also may have PDF or online copies of the article available on their own website for you to read or download.
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Search government pages. Pages operated by national governments, as well as legislative or parliamentary websites, are great sources of primary documents, such as laws and policy papers.^{[6]
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- Many governmental departments also publish scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. For example, the National Institutes of Health in the United States hosts PubMed, which provides abstracts and full text of scholarly articles, many of them free of charge.
- Governmental commissions and committees also may have reliable documents used in drafting and amending legislation, such as position papers and statistical analysis. In addition to using these as sources themselves, you can dig through the citations in those documents to find scholarly articles that may be relevant to your project.
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Find articles from international or non-governmental organizations. Many international or non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations, produce scholarly research as well. These reports often are available for free, or at a relatively limited cost.^{[7]
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- Before you use a paper written for a non-governmental or nonprofit organization, make sure you understand the mission, purpose, and agenda of the organization itself. While many of these papers will be well-referenced and reliable, some may be slanted towards a particular viewpoint or position.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using Library Databases

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Go to a university library website. Many universities have a more open approach to providing scholarly articles to the general public. You may be able to access scholarly articles through the library's website even if you aren't a current student at that school.^{[8]
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- Check colleges and universities near you as well. That way it won't be inconvenient if you end up having to go to the library to look at articles you've found online.
- Even universities that don't have open access to their databases may still have open access to the general public if you use a computer in the library itself.
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Access electronic databases. Different libraries will have different databases of scholarly journals and other scholarly publications. Typically these databases cover particular fields or disciplines.^{[9]
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- Look for a tab that says "research," "online resources," or something similar. Even if the library allows the general public to access the databases, you may have to create a user account.
EXPERT TIP

Kim Gillingham, MA
Master's Degree, Library Science, Kutztown University
Kim Gillingham is a retired library and information specialist with over 30 years of experience. She has a Master's in Library Science from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, and she managed the audiovisual department of the district library center in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, for 12 years. She continues to do volunteer work for various libraries and lending library projects in her local community.

Kim Gillingham, MA
Master's Degree, Library Science, Kutztown University

Did You Know? Librarians, whether at a public library or a research institution, are trained in information sciences, which means they're experts at tracking down information and finding sources. Don't hesitate to ask a librarian for help!
3
Enter your search terms. When searching library databases, you'll typically get better results using advanced search options than a plain language search like you would use for a general internet search engine.^{[10]
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- If you've never used this particular database, familiarize yourself with the search terms. While they'll generally be the same, there may be some differences from one library system to another.
- Typically you'll also have the option of limiting your results. For example, you may be able to check a box if you want your search to return only peer-reviewed articles.
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Retrieve your results. When you submit your search, you'll get back a list of related scholarly articles. Typically the search results will give you the name and author of the article along with publication information.^{[11]
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- In an open-access library, you can click on the title of an article to read the full text of the article. In other libraries, clicking on the title may lead you only to an abstract. If you think the article would be helpful for your project based on the abstract, you typically can access the full text by going to the library.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Evaluating Article Quality

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Get information about the publication. Typically, the publisher of a scholarly journal or publication is a university or academic society. If the name isn't well known to you, additional research may be necessary.^{[12]
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- Sometimes a journal can look and feel scholarly and impressive, but actually be a hastily put together affair with no real standing.
- Do an online search for the name of the publication or the name of the publisher. Look for more information about their reputation in the field.
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Research the background of the author. Unless the author is someone known to you to be a leader in the field, you need to find out how much authority they have. Articles written by people with extensive experience in the field are considered more reliable than those written by students.^{[13]
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- You also want to review the author's background for possible bias. If the author is someone who openly advocates for a particular policy or position, their scholarly work may not be objective.
3
Look for citations of the article. Articles that are mentioned frequently in later scholarship have made a big impact on their field. Review these later mentions carefully to determine whether the article was received favorably.^{[14]
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- For example, if you have an article that has been cited 50 times in the past year, that article has made a big impact. However, further review indicates that the article was criticized or dismissed in nearly all of those citations. It would likely be a mistake to rely on that article given all that criticism.
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Talk to research library staff. After all of your research into the background of an article and its author, you may still be unsure about the quality of the article. A research librarian will be able to discuss with you how reliable the source is.^{[15]
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- Research librarians also may be able to point you to other resources that you didn't know about or hadn't considered.
- Some universities allow you to ask the research librarians questions online, without ever going to the library. Don't leave online questions to the last minute, since you may have to wait for a response.