Free access to electronic databases, electronic journals, and electronic books

This section provides you with ideas and specific resources to access research electronically for free. As you may have discovered in your quest for evidence-based practices, some research requires payment to access. The following will facilitate your ability to locate and retrieve research.

1. The University of Massachusetts, Amherst curates a list of open access electronic resources through their Database A-Z list. Click on the link and change the box from All Database Types to Open Access. This will show you all resources that are freely available for you to use.

2. If you live in Massachusetts, you can get access to databases through the Boston Public Library. You will need to apply for a Boston Public Library ecard. The databases you can access remotely are listed at Boston Public Library: Online Resources.

3. Try your local public library (they often have a lot of online resources) or a local academic library with public computers.

4. For online journals, try the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.

5. For online books, try the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) or OAPEN.

Last Updated: June 28, 2019