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Searching the Literature: Open Access and Freely Available Resources

Open Access

There are a growing number of Open Access (freely available) academic resources. 

Open access (OA) means unrestricted online access to peer-reviewed scholarly research, including books, journal articles and theses.

Open-access research by Ulster academics can be found in Pure, the Ulster University Institutional Repository.

Many scholarly databases and journal publishers will provide access to Open Access material. Look for the orange symbol or the words Open Access.

Browser Extensions

Use these browser extensions to find open access and freely available research articles.

Using Google Scholar

Google Scholar search finds journal articles and other high quality information, especially Open Access (freely accessible) scholarly information.

However, unlike Library databases, it has limited search options and functions. We we recommend that it should not be your sole source of information but to use in combination with appropriate Library databases.

Follow the steps shown in this video to:

  • get started searching Scholar.
  • link to full text sources held at Ulster.
  • export references to the Refworks database.

For more information on Google Scholar, including search tips and citation metrics go to Google's help pages.

Google Scholar Search

Open Access Resources and Collections

Membership of professional bodies will also give you access to research and in many cases professional journals.