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Getting access to philosophy articles when one is not a member of a university community

Brian Leiter

A reader writes:

My undergraduate degree was in philosophy.  I am no longer undertaking any formal study but I would like to study the subject further in my own time. While I can join my local university library and borrow books I am not able to have access to the online academic journals.

Do any of your readers know the most effective way of getting access to online philosophy journals if you are not actually a student at a university. Is there a private online library you can join or some other way of  paying to gain access. I am based in the UK.

I have come across a online library called Questia – this has a limited number of philosophy journals – is there anything else that gives wider access?

Any ideas/suggestions?

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13 responses to “Getting access to philosophy articles when one is not a member of a university community”

  1. Sara L. Uckelman

    On Facebook there is a group called the "Philosophical Underclass" where people with access to journal subscriptions help out those who don't.

    On twitter, the hashtag #icanhazpdf is another way to obtain access.

    Reply
  2. Tim

    There's a facebook group called "The Philosophical Underclass", and it's great. If you do not have access to a certain article, post the details there, along with your email, and someone who does have access to it will download it and email you the PDF. And of course, if you do have library access to an article, you can help someone out when they're in need.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous Coward

    Use this hashtag: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23icanhazpdf

    Also, https://twitter.com/Protohedgehog/status/697493999435776001

    Reply
  4. Ronell

    There is a website that I use, it has a lots of topics on it, give them a try – http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/electrjsak.html

    Reply
  5. anon for obvious reasons

    http://sci-hub.io/ has been in the news lately, and seems to have extremely comprehensive access.

    Reply
  6. Postdoc

    http://sci-hub.io

    Access to basically everything for free! Got to love the Russians!

    Reply
  7. asst prof

    While you generally cannot _remotely_ access journal articles online via your local university's library (e.g., from home or from work), most licensing agreements between publishers and academic libraries define "authorized users" as students, faculty, employees, and people accessing materials from university computers. So, you can often download or print journal articles from public terminals within academic libraries. Not as convenient as remote access or icanhazpdf, perhaps, but a possibility. Also, it's legal.

    I don't know about university libraries in the UK, but lots of academic libraries in the U.S. have public terminals that do not require student/faculty/employee credentials.

    Reply
  8. Canadian Grad Student

    Many municipal libraries offer some access to scholarly journals, e.g., I know the Toronto library gives patrons access to JSTOR and other services: http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/books-video-music/articles-online-research/

    Check with your local librarian! Even if they don't provide a service, they might hook you up to the nearest municipal system that does.

    Reply
  9. Anon, Esq.

    Some academic institutions also provide JSTOR access to alums; check with your alma mater's library.

    And some universities are moving towards open access for their faculties' scholarship, like Harvard's DASH project.

    Reply
  10. Ernest Bornheimer

    Another good resource is reddit.com/r/scholar….similar to Phil Underclass and #icanhazpdf. Please read and follow the rules. I've also had good luck with academia.edu and with emailing authors directly.

    Reply
  11. Jeff Glick

    For those who live in Texas, a Houston Public Library card will give you access to JSTOR and a bunch of other databases. But you need a Texas driver's license to get the library card.

    Reply
  12. asst prof

    Relevant to the topic is this from today's _CHE_:
    http://tinyurl.com/zd8gvvx

    Reply
  13. Aaron Lercher

    Most academic libraries in the US have terminals for the use of the general public, from which one can print out journal articles. I expect that is true in the UK as well. It's not as convenient as access from home, however.

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