1. Avoid paywalls, request research
Open access button
Avoid paywalls, request research
Christine Daoutis, Montserrat Rodriguez-Marquez,
Charlotte Barton & Moray Bennet
August 2018

2. Background: paywalls
Scenario #1 You are doing a literature search for your essay, project or final year dissertation. You come across an article that is key to your research topic. The Library has the paper. You can go ahead and access it.
But is this the whole story?
Did you know?
Over 2.5 million scientific articles are published every year. No University can afford to subscribe to them all. Some Universities, especially in developing countries, subscribe to very few.
This article may be provided by your Library, but many others aren’t.

3. Background (continued)
Scenario #2
This time the paper you are looking for is not available from your Library.
What do you do?
Missing a key paper in your literature search is obviously not advisable.
Remember that it is also not acceptable to cite a paper that you haven’t read, for example via a secondary source.
Give up and look for another paper
It can take a few days to get the paper delivered to you; longer if you are requesting a book.
The Open Access button saves you time and effort putting in a request.
Put in a request for an interlibrary loan

4. Use the Open Access button to:
What is the OA button?
Use the Open Access button to:
Find versions of published papers
Request a copy of the paper from the author, if an open access version does not already exist.
Open Access
Immediate, free online access to a publication, without any fee or password barriers

5. How does the OA button work?
A shortcoming of the OA button: doesn’t count embargoed papers as OA. So a request to the author may be frustrating, because the author may already have provided a copy. Another issue: goes straight to the PDF, but most PDFs don’t have a cover pafe to explain which version it is, where it is from etc
This video demonstrates how the Open Access Button works, and shows you how to install it on your own computer.

6. How should you cite an OA article?
The version you have landed on may not look like the published PDF. However, it is normally the peer-reviewed, accepted version – practically the same content as the published version.
Citing an article found via the Open Access Button should be very similar to citing any other journal article. You should always include the full citation of the published version.
However, also be sure to include the URL of the version you used. So, a citation for an OA article, in the Harvard Cite Them Right style, would look like this:
Check the guidelines for the referencing style you are following. They may have specific guidance on how to cite articles accessed via open access repositories.
Clark, G. (2016) ‘Long-term effects of reduced ambient temperature on common house plants’ Studies in Plantology, 14(2), pp Accessed from:

7. What can you do with an OA article?
Free to access does not always mean free to share, adapt or re-use.
Many publicly available articles are shared under a Creative Commons licence, which does allow you to re-share and re-use, even adapt the work, as long as you give proper credit to the author.
However, many other articles may be downloaded for personal use, but not re-shared.
Take the quiz on the next slide
to get an idea of what you may or may not do with an article you find
via the Open Access Button.

8. Save the PDF so I can read it wherever I happen to be
How may I use a free article? Drag and drop the text boxes below to the right column.
I may…
I may not…
Have it published, with my name replacing that of the actual writer
Incorporate its findings in my own work without giving credit
Print it and use it in my studies
Send the link to my friends
Make multiple photocopies and pin them to my Department’s notice board
Cite it in my own work
Send a copy to my granny
Have it published, with my name replacing that of the actual writer
Save the PDF so I can read it wherever I happen to be
Post it on my website

9. Copy it out by hand and give the copy to my fellow researcher Put it on an online message board Send the PDF to myself by Quote from it in my own work, referencing it accordingly Put a video on YouTube of me reading the whole text out loud

10. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.