Academic institutions provide access to research publications for students, staff, and faculty. However, many clinical practitioners are not granted these permissions and have difficulty acquiring the most up-to-date research. Below are several recommendations that are inclusive but not limited for how individuals may access research articles without academic institutional access.
- JAPNA: free online access as APNA members
- Twitter/Facebook: articles shared are often open access or free preview
- University libraries: free or small fee to alumni and guests from the public
- Interlibrary loan/resource sharing: public libraries share access
- Directly contact corresponding author: researchers usually are willing to share
- Search directly for author: researchers may have lab websites, blogs, or online CVs with articles linked
- ResearchGate
- Google Scholar
- PubMed
Open access to research articles is controversial. Many institutions and online services enforce rules to limit who may obtain literature, while people advocate for free access to knowledge. Note: This blog does not indicate endorsement and is for informational purposes.