Tools

The following tools help you to find freely accessible publications as well as to publish open access publications or to make already published works freely available. They thus save time and effort in finding open access content or in implementing open access.

BASE

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine) is one of the world's largest search engines for scientific publications. The search pool comprises over 240 million publications available online. The full texts of about 60% of these are freely accessible. Open access publications are displayed with priority and can also be directly filtered when searching.

B!SON

With the help of B!SON (Bibliometric and Semantic Open Access Recommender Network), suitable OA journals can be found for a planned article based on the title, the abstract and the literature references. This is done using semantic and bibliometric methods.

CORE

CORE provides a search engine for freely available publications from repositories, journals and publishers. In particular, freely available scientific articles are found, including freely available versions of publications that are originally subject to payment. The search can be carried out via a web interface, but there is also a browser extension (CORE Discovery).

Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)

The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) is a comprehensive directory of open access books. It helps authors and editors who wish to publish a monograph or collected volume as open access to find a suitable publisher. In DOAB, open access books can be filtered by subject, language and publisher, among other options.

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a comprehensive directory of open access journals. It helps authors who wish to publish an article as open access to find a suitable open access journal. In DOAJ, open access journals can be filtered by subject and by the review process, among other options.

Dissemin

Dissemin is a platform that brings together bibliographic sources and information from SHERPA/RoMEO on an intuitive interface. The service allows users to check for their own publications which of them are already freely available (whereby free availability is interpreted very broadly here, including, for example, academic social networks such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu) and which of the publications are not yet freely available and can be self-archived. For more information on self-archiving, see our Quick Guide and our page on author rights. Dissemin's checking process is particularly comprehensive if one registers with an existing ORCID account (see our information on author identification), since all publications listed there can then be checked.

Internet Archive Scholar

Internet Archive Scholar is a search engine for scientific publications, which is especially useful for finding full texts that are no longer available at their original web location and cannot be found via other web searches. The sources of the full texts are content archived or digitised by the Internet Archive as well as works published there directly.

OA Books Toolkit

The OA Books Toolkit aims to help book authors to better understand open access book publishing. It covers specific topics related to open access books and offers brief introductions to particular aspects of open access book publishing. The toolkit also serves as a signposting tool by offering lists of referenced sources, further reading and links to definitions of key terms.

oa.finder

The oa.finder can be used to search for suitable scientific publication bodies. Researchers can specify the type of publication they are planning, their role in the publication process and their research institution. The tool then provides customised information on publication venues: details on open access, the subject discipline and the impact, open access publication charges (APCs) as well as funding opportunities via transformatve agreements and publication funds of the selected institution. Currently, it is possible to search for journals (as of 10/2022). A search feature for publishers who publish monographs, edited volumes and conference proceedings as open access is planned as well.

Open Access Button

Open Access Button helps you to find freely available versions of scientific publications that are originally subject to payment. The search can be carried out via a web interface or by using the available browser extension. Extensive lists of publications can also be checked via an API.

Open Access Helper

Open Access Helper helps you to find freely available versions of scientific publications that are originally subject to payment. It uses CORE and Unpaywall to do that. Open Access Helper is available as a mobile app and desktop application (iOS and macOS only) and as a browser extension.

OpenAIRE Explore

OpenAIRE Explore is a search engine for freely available scientific publications from various sources. In particular, it finds publications directly from publishers' databases as well as from numerous repositories. The search engine is a service of the OpenAIRE project, which promotes open science in Europe.

Plan S Journal Checker Tool

The Plan S Journal Checker Tool helps to find publication options that are compatible with Plan S by specifying a journal, the research funding institution and your own academic institution.

SHERPA/JULIET

SHERPA/JULIET is a database that lists the guidelines of research funding institutions regarding the requirements for publishing, open access and data archiving. It thus has a similar purpose as SHERPA/RoMEO.

SHERPA/RoMEO

SHERPA/RoMEO is a database that lists the conditions and requirements for self-archiving of publishers and journals. It is therefore a valuable tool for authors who wish to make initially not freely accessible publications open access (green open access). When using SHERPA/RoMEO, however, it should be noted that the information listed there is not legally binding and therefore the original regulations relevant to a specific publication should always be checked carefully. For more information on self-archiving, see our Quick Guide and our page on author rights.

SPARC Author Addendum

The SPARC Author Addendum offers a pre-formulated addendum for use as an appendix to publication contracts, with which authors can reserve certain rights to their publications which they would otherwise transfer to the publisher. In this way, they can, under certain circumstances, reserve the right for republication or for making the work freely accessible otherwise under specified conditions.

Unpaywall

Unpaywall helps you to find freely available versions of scientific publications that are originally subject to payment and thus, just as the name implies, to legally circumvent paywalls. Unpaywall offers an easy-to-install browser extension for this purpose, which automatically checks for freely available versions when visiting online articles, and indicates this with by changing the color of its icon. Extensive lists of publications can also be checked via an API.