Finding an Open Access Publication

Open access to publications is growing considerably in many countries. In France, for example, 67% of publications are now open access (2024 figure from the French Open Science Monitor).

Several tools make it easy to identify these publications.

Plug-in and extensions

Browser extensions or plug-ins can be used to check whether a document (such as a scientific article) is available via open access, and, if so, to access it.

• Unpaywall offers a Google Chrome or Firefox extension that identifies open-access versions of content (55 million articles from over 50,000 sources, including publishers and open archives). A green padlock icon indicates that a PDF is available. The extension is also integrated into numerous databases, including Scopus, Web of Science and Zotero..

• Click and read : Designed by INIST for Firefox, Chrome and Safari browsers, this extension provides full-text access to a wide range of open-access content or content available under specific agreements with publishers (resources acquired by French government via ISTEX). It can be easily configured to personalise access to resources according to the user’s rights (e.g. by specifying the institution to which the user belongs, such as UGA, or the preferred sources). The Click and Read logo provides direct access to available content.

Scientific Research Engines

In addition to Google Scholar, several scientific search engines index platforms that provide open-access content, such as digital libraries and open archives.

• The Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) harvests a variety of content, including scientific publications, theses, courses, conferences, journals, images, videos, reports and heritage collections, from over 11,000 selected sources, such as open archive platforms, digital libraries and data repositories. It offers a wide range of functions and services for advanced searches and exploitation of results (filters, export, etc.).
• CORE (Connecting Repositories) is a platform that aggregates open-access scientific articles from a variety of open archives.
• Isidore is a search engine that provides access to digital data, such as publications, data and sources, in the human and social sciences.

At a European level, the OpenAIRE Explore portal enables users to search the open-access scientific output of European countries, including publications, research data and theses, via the repositories and archives of universities and research organisations. Content linked to research projects can also be retrieved.

In France, the ScanR search engine provides a comprehensive overview of research, connecting research projects, authors, laboratories, companies, public funding and collaborative initiatives.

Theses

All theses defended in France are listed on the theses.fr national portal. The portal provides comprehensive descriptions of theses, including abstracts, keywords, thesis supervisors, doctoral schools, laboratories, organisations, thesis juries and rapporteurs. It also specifies how to access the full text of the thesis. Theses in preparation can also be found.

Open Access Books or Journals Collections

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is an index of more than 20,000 open-access academic journals. Only those of sufficient editorial quality are listed. You can use the search engine to look for articles in these journals.

An equivalent directory for open access books is the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB).

Open Archives Directories

OpenDOAR: referencing open archive platforms (searchable by type, theme and country).