Has this ever happened to you?

While looking for websites for research, you come

across a research paper site that claims to connect academics to a peer-reviewed
article database for free.

Intrigued, you search for keywords related to your topic, only to discover that you
must pay a hefty subscription fee to access the service. After the umpteenth time
being duped, you begin to wonder if there's even such a thing as free journal
articles.

Subscription fees and paywalls are often the bane of students and academics,
especially those at small institutions who don't provide access to many free article
directories and repositories.

Whether you're working on an undergraduate paper, a PhD dissertation, or a

medical research study, we want to help you find tools to locate and access the
information you need to produce well-researched, compelling, and innovative work.

Below, we discuss why peer-reviewed articles are superior and list out the best free
article databases to use in 2022.

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Why Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Journal Articles
Are More Authoritative

Determining what sources are reliable can be challenging. Peer-reviewed scholarly

journal articles are the gold standard in academic research. Reputable academic
journals have a rigorous peer-review process.

The peer review process provides accountability to the academic community, as

well as to the content of the article. The peer review process involves qualified
experts in a specific (often very specific) field performing a review of an article's
methods and findings to determine things like quality and credibility.

Peer-reviewed articles can be found in peer-reviewed article databases and

research databases, and if you know that a database of journals is reliable, that can
offer reassurances about the reliability of a free article. Peer review is often double
blind, meaning that the author removes all identifying information and, likewise,
does not know the identity of the reviewers. This helps reviewers maintain
objectivity and impartiality so as to judge an article based on its merit.

Where to Find Peer-Reviewed Articles

Peer-reviewed articles can be found in a variety of research databases. Below is a
list of some of the major databases you can use to find peer-reviewed articles and
other sources in disciplines spanning the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

What Are Open Access Journals?

An open access (OA) journal is a journal whose content can be accessed without
payment. This provides scholars, students, and researchers with free journal articles.
OA journals use alternate methods of funding to cover publication costs so that
articles can be published without having to pass those publication costs on to the
reader.

Some of these funding models include standard funding methods like advertising,
public funding, and author payment models, where the author pays a fee in order to
publish in the journal. There are OA journals that have non-peer-reviewed academic
content, as well as journals that focus on dissertations, theses, and papers from
conferences, but the main focus of OA is peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles.

The internet has certainly made it easier to access research articles and other
scholarly publications without needing access to a university library, and OA takes
another step in that direction by removing financial barriers to academic content.

Choosing Wisely

Features of Legitimate OA Journals

There are things to look out for when trying to decide if a free publication journal is
legitimate:

1. Mission statement—The mission statement for an OA journal should be

available on their website.

2. Publication history—Is the journal well established? How long has it been
available?
 3. Editorial board—Who are the members of the editorial board, and what are
their credentials?

4. Indexing—Can the journal be found in a reliable database?

5. Peer review—What is the peer review process? Does the journal allow
enough time in the process for a reliable assessment of quality?

6. Impact factor—What is the average number of times the journal is cited over
a two-year period?

Features of Illegitimate OA Journals

There are predatory publications that take advantage of the OA format, and they
are something to be wary of. Here are some things to look out for:

1. Contact information—Is contact information provided? Can it be verified?

2. Turnaround—If the journal makes dubious claims about the amount of time
from submission to publication, it is likely unreliable.

3. Editorial board—Much like determining legitimacy, looking at the editorial

board and their credentials can help determine illegitimacy.

4. Indexing—Can the journal be found in any scholarly databases?

5. Peer review—Is there a statement about the peer review process? Does it fit
what you know about peer review?

How to Find Scholarly Articles

Identify Keywords
Keywords are included in an article by the author. Keywords are an excellent way
to find content relevant to your research topic or area of interest. In academic
searches, much like you would on a search engine, you can use keywords to
navigate through what is available to find exactly what you're looking for.
Authors provide keywords that will help you easily find their article when
researching a related topic, often including general terms to accommodate broader
searches, as well as some more specific terms for those with a narrower scope.
Keywords can be used individually or in combination to refine your scholarly article
search.

Narrow Down Results

Sometimes, search results can be overwhelming, and searching for free articles on a
journal database is no exception, but there are multiple ways to narrow down your
results. A good place to start is discipline.

What category does your topic fall into (psychology, architecture, machine learning,
etc.)? You can also narrow down your search with a year range if you're looking for
articles that are more recent.

A Boolean search can be incredibly helpful. This entails including terms like AND
between two keywords in your search if you need both keywords to be in your
results (or, if you are looking to exclude certain keywords, to exclude these words
from the results).

Consider Different Avenues

If you're not having luck using keywords in your search for free articles, you may
still be able to find what you're looking for by changing your tactics. Casting a wider
net sometimes yields positive results, so it may be helpful to try searching by
subject if keywords aren't getting you anywhere.

You can search for a specific publisher to see if they have OA publications in the
academic journal database. And, if you know more precisely what you're looking
for, you can search for the title of the article or the author's name.

The Top 21 Free Online Journal and Research

Databases
Navigating OA journals, research article databases, and academic websites trying to
find high-quality sources for your research can really make your head spin. What
constitutes a reliable database? What is a useful resource for your discipline and
research topic? How can you find and access full-text, peer-reviewed articles?

Fortunately, we're here to help. Having covered some of the ins and outs of peer
review, OA journals, and how to search for articles, we have compiled a list of the
top 21 free online journals and the best research databases. This list of databases is
a great resource to help you navigate the wide world of academic research.

These databases provide a variety of free sources, from abstracts and citations to
full-text, peer-reviewed OA journals. With databases covering specific areas of
research and interdisciplinary databases that provide a variety of material, these are
some of our favorite free databases, and they're totally legit!

1. CORE
CORE is a multidisciplinary aggregator of OA research. CORE has the largest
collection of OA articles available. It allows users to search more than 219 million
OA articles. While most of these link to the full-text article on the original
publisher's site, or to a PDF available for download, five million records are hosted
directly on CORE.

CORE's mission statement is a simple and straightforward commitment to offering

OA articles to anyone, anywhere in the world. They also host communities that are
available for researchers to join and an ambassador community to enhance their
services globally. In addition to a straightforward keyword search, CORE offers
advanced search options to filter results by publication type, year, language, journal,
repository, and author.

CORE's user interface is easy to use and navigate. Search results can be sorted
based on relevance or recency, and you can search for relevant content directly
from the results screen.

Collection: 219,537,133 OA articles

Other Services: Additional services are available from CORE, with extras that are
geared toward researchers, repositories, and businesses. There are tools for
accessing raw data, including an API that provides direct access to data, datasets
that are available for download, and FastSync for syncing data content from the
CORE database.

CORE has a recommender plug-in that suggests relevant OA content in the

database while conducting a search and a discovery feature that helps you discover
OA versions of paywalled articles. Other features include tools for managing
content, such as a dashboard for managing repository output and the Repository
Edition service to enhance discoverability.

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: Yes

Advanced Search Options: Language, author, journal, publisher, repository, DOI,

year

2. ScienceOpen
Functioning as a research and publishing network, ScienceOpen offers OA to more
than 74 million articles in all areas of science. Although you do need to register to
view the full text of articles, registration is free. The advanced search function is
highly detailed, allowing you to find exactly the research you're looking for.

The Berlin- and Boston-based company was founded in 2013 to "facilitate open and
public communications between academics and to allow ideas to be judged on their
merit, regardless of where they come from." Search results can be exported for easy
integration with reference management systems.

You can also bookmark articles for later research. There are extensive networking
options, including your Science Open profile, a forum for interacting with other
researchers, the ability to track your usage and citations, and an interactive
bibliography. Users have the ability to review articles and provide their knowledge
and insight within the community.

Collection: 74,560,631

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: Yes

Advanced Search Options: Content type, source, author, journal, discipline

3. Directory of Open Access Journals

A multidisciplinary, community-curated directory, the Directory of Open Access
Journals (DOAJ) gives researchers access to high-quality peer-reviewed journals. It
has archived more than two million articles from 17,193 journals, allowing you to
either browse by subject or search by keyword.

The site was launched in 2003 with the aim of increasing the visibility of OA
scholarly journals online. Content on the site covers subjects from science, to law,
to fine arts, and everything in between. DOAJ has a commitment to "increase the
visibility, accessibility, reputation, usage and impact of quality, peer-reviewed, OA
scholarly research journals globally, regardless of discipline, geography or language."

Information about the journal is available with each search result. Abstracts are also
available in a collapsible format directly from the search screen. The scholarly article
website is somewhat simple, but it is easy to navigate. There are 16 principles of
transparency and best practices in scholarly publishing that clearly outline DOAJ
policies and standards.

Collection: 6,817,242

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: Yes

Advanced Search Options: Subject, journal, year

4. Education Resources Information Center

The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) of the Institution of Education
Sciences allows you to search by topic for material related to the field of education.
Links lead to other sites, where you may have to purchase the information, but you
can search for full-text articles only. You can also search only peer-reviewed
sources.

The service primarily indexes journals, gray literature (such as technical reports,
white papers, and government documents), and books. All sources of material on
ERIC go through a formal review process prior to being indexed. ERIC's selection
policy is available as a PDF on their website.

The ERIC website has an extensive FAQ section to address user questions. This
includes categories like general questions, peer review, and ERIC content. There are
also tips for advanced searches, as well as general guidance on the best way to
search the database. ERIC is an excellent database for content specific to education.
Collection: 1,292,897

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: Yes

Advanced Search Options: Boolean

5. arXiv e-Print Archive

The arXiv e-Print Archive is run by Cornell University Library and curated by
volunteer moderators, and it now offers OA to more than one million e-prints.

There are advisory committees for all eight subjects available on the database. With
a stated commitment to an "emphasis on openness, collaboration, and scholarship,"
the arXiv e-Print Archive is an excellent STEM resource.

The interface is not as user-friendly as some of the other databases available, and
the website hosts a blog to provide news and updates, but it is otherwise a
straightforward math and science resource. There are simple and advanced search
options, and, in addition to conducting searches for specific topics and articles,
users can browse content by subject. The arXiv e-Print Archive clearly states that
they do not peer review the e-prints in the database.

Collection: 1,983,891

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: No

Advanced Search Options: Subject, date, title, author, abstract, DOI

6. Social Science Research Network

The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is a collection of papers from the
social sciences community. It is a highly interdisciplinary platform used to search for
scholarly articles related to 67 social science topics. SSRN has a variety of research
networks for the various topics available through the free scholarly database.
The site offers more than 700,000 abstracts and more than 600,000 full-text
papers. There is not yet a specific option to search for only full-text articles, but,
because most of the papers on the site are free access, it's not often that you
encounter a paywall. There is currently no option to search for only peer-reviewed
articles.

You must become a member to use the services, but registration is free and enables
you to interact with other scholars around the world. SSRN is "passionately
committed to increasing inclusion, diversity and equity in scholarly research," and
they encourage and discuss the use of inclusive language in scholarship whenever
possible.

Collection: 1,058,739 abstracts; 915,452 articles

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: Yes

Advanced Search Options: Term, author, date, network

7. Public Library of Science

Public Library of Science (PLOS) is a big player in the world of OA science.
Publishing 12 OA journals, the nonprofit organization is committed to facilitating
openness in academic research. According to the site, "all PLOS content is at the
highest possible level of OA, meaning that scientific articles are immediately and
freely available to anyone, anywhere."

PLOS outlines four fundamental goals that guide the organization: break
boundaries, empower researchers, redefine quality, and open science. All PLOS
journals are peer-reviewed, and all 12 journals uphold rigorous ethical standards for
research, publication, and scientific reporting.

PLOS does not offer advanced search options. Content is organized by topic into
research communities that users can browse through, in addition to options to
search for both articles and journals. The PLOS website also has resources for peer
reviewers, including guidance on becoming a reviewer and on how to best
participate in the peer review process.

Collection: 12 journals
Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: Yes

Advanced Search Options: None

8. OpenDOAR
OpenDOAR, or the Directory of Open Access Repositories, is a comprehensive
resource for finding free OA journals and articles. Using Google Custom Search,
OpenDOAR combs through OA repositories around the world and returns relevant
research in all disciplines.

The repositories it searches through are assessed and categorized by OpenDOAR

staff to ensure they meet quality standards. Inclusion criteria for the database
include requirements for OA content, global access, and categorically appropriate
content, in addition to various other quality assurance measures. OpenDOAR has
metadata, data, content, preservation, and submission policies for repositories, in
addition to two OA policy statements regarding minimum and optimum
recommendations.

This database allows users to browse and search repositories, which can then be
selected, and articles and data can be accessed from the repository directly. As a
repository database, much of the content on the site is geared toward the support
of repositories and OA standards.

Collection: 5,768 repositories

Other Services: OpenDOAR offers a variety of additional services. Given the nature
of the platform, services are primarily aimed at repositories and institutions, and
there is a marked focus on OA in general. Sherpa services are OA archiving tools for
authors and institutions.

They also offer various resources for OA support and compliance regarding
standards and policies. The publication router matches publications and publishers
with appropriate repositories.

There are also services and resources from JISC for repositories for cost
management, discoverability, research impact, and interoperability, including
ORCID consortium membership information. Additionally, a repository self-
assessment tool is available for members.
Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: No

Advanced Search Options: Name, organization name, repository type, software

name, content type, subject, country, region

9. Bielefeld Academic Search Engine

The Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) is operated by the Bielefeld
University Library in Germany, and it offers more than 240 million documents from
more than 8,000 sources. Sixty percent of its content is OA, and you can filter your
search accordingly.

BASE has rigorous inclusion requirements for content providers regarding quality
and relevance, and they maintain a list of content providers for the sake of
transparency, which can be easily found on their website. BASE has a fairly elegant
interface. Search results can be organized by author, title, or date.

From the search results, items can be selected and exported, added to favorites,
emailed, and searched in Google Scholar. There are basic and advanced search
features, with the advanced search offering numerous options for refining search
criteria. There is also a feature on the website that saves recent searches without
additional steps from the user.

Collection: 276,019,066 documents; 9,286 content providers

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: Yes

Advanced Search Options: Author, subject, year, content provider, language,

document type, access, terms of reuse
10. Digital Library of the Commons Repository
Run by Indiana University, the Digital Library of the Commons (DLC) Repository is a
multidisciplinary journal repository that allows users to access thousands of free
and OA articles from around the world. You can browse by document type, date,
author, title, and more or search for keywords relevant to your topic.

DCL also offers the Comprehensive Bibliography of the Commons, an image

database, and a keyword thesaurus for enhanced search parameters. The repository
includes books, book chapters, conference papers, journal articles, surveys, theses
and dissertations, and working papers. DCL advanced search features drop-down
menus of search types with built-in Boolean search options.

Searches can be sorted by relevance, title, date, or submission date in ascending or

descending order. Abstracts are included in selected search results, with access to
full texts available, and citations can be exported from the same page. Additionally,
the image database search includes tips for better search results.

Collection: 10,784

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: No

Advanced Search Options: Author, date, title, subject, sector, region, conference

11. CIA World Factbook

The CIA World Factbook is a little different from the other resources on this list in
that it is not an online journal directory or repository. It is, however, a useful free
online research database for academics in a variety of disciplines.

All the information is free to access, and it provides facts about every country in the
world, which are organized by category and include information about history,
geography, transportation, and much more. The World Factbook can be searched
by country or region, and there is also information about the world’s oceans.

This site contains resources related to the CIA as an organization rather than being
a scientific journal database specifically. The site has a user interface that is easy to
navigate. The site also provides a section for updates regarding changes to what
information is available and how it is organized, making it easier to interact with the
information you are searching for.

Collection: 266 countries

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: No

Advanced Search Options: None

12. Paperity
Paperity boasts its status as the "first multidisciplinary aggregator of OA journals
and papers." Their focus is on helping you avoid paywalls while connecting you to
authoritative research. In addition to providing readers with easy access to
thousands of journals, Paperity seeks to help authors reach their audiences and help
journals increase their exposure to boost readership.

Paperity has journal articles for every discipline, and the database offers more than
a dozen advanced search options, including the length of the paper and the number
of authors. There is even an option to include, exclude, or exclusively search gray
papers.

Paperity is available for mobile, with both a mobile site and the Paperity Reader, an
app that is available for both Android and Apple users. The database is also
available on social media. You can interact with Paperity via Twitter and Facebook,
and links to their social media are available on their homepage, including their
Twitter feed.
Collection: 8,837,396

Other Services: None

Good Source of Peer-Reviewed Articles: Yes

Advanced Search Options: Title, abstract, journal title, journal ISSN, publisher, year
of publication, number of characters, number of authors, DOI, author, affiliation,
language, country, region, continent, gray papers