SLPs: How to get access to full journal articles

People with access to University databases usually have "free" access to all journal articles, because their University pays for it.

But the average SLP? Not so much!

Below, we'll explain how to find free versions of journal articles.

First, note that the primary way to obtain a journal article is to go to the publisher’s website and simply pay for it. Publishers own the journal articles. So when you search an article's title, the journal's website is almost always the first thing to pop up. Just like anything else you’d need for therapy—books, toys, treatment materials—scholarly articles do have an associated cost. (Not a fan of that cost? You're not alone.)  

What do they usually cost? To purchase a single article is usually between $12 and $60. Some journals also allow you to rent the article for 48 hours for much cheaper (usually around $6).

(Now, back up: Recall that if you need to FIND an article in the first place, you need to search a comprehensive databases like PubMed. But once you have the title of the article you want, here's how to proceed...)
 
Here are some ways people get journal articles for free:
 

• Unpaywall: Download the app, Unpaywall. It installs within your internet browser, and as soon as you open a link to a journal article, it'll direct you toward a free version (BOOM!). This is your single best option. If this doesn't work, proceed to the next steps...
• Do a basic "Google" search for the article. Not a Google Scholar search, but a basic search. As stated previously, the first site to pop up will be the publisher's. That may or may not be "open" (free access). But, subsequent hits on your Google search will be places like ResearchGate or the author's own website. These are good places to find that article for free. ***Every single month, TISLP finds approximately a third of the journal articles for free using either the Unpaywall app (above) or a basic Google search***
  
• Ask the author for it. There are legal versions the journal article author can share with you, and it's their job to know which ones those are! And most authors are happy to share. Simply find the email address on the article page (or Google the person), and email to request a PDF. Just note that you CAN NOT share an article an author gives you with large groups of people, or anywhere online. The author gave it to you, and so if you share it further, you're responsible for whether or not it's being shared legally. Remember— the publisher owns the article, not the author.
  
• If you're a member of the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association (ASHA), you get access to their journals for free. If you’re additionally a member of at least one ASHA Special Interest Group (ASHA SIG), you get the Perspectives publications for free too. There are many reasons to belong to ASHA, but journal access is certainly an important one. (NOTE: Similar perks exist for U.K., Canadian, and Australian professionals; check with your national organization.) 
• Visit a university. Many universities offer public access passes if you visit the university library in order to obtain materials. There are often limits (e.g. you can only use the computer to access journals for one hour), and the details of what you can get access to vary widely among schools. But it's worth looking into, because you may be only a short drive from all the articles you want. People also will sometimes ask someone they know at a university to get an article for them (this isn't generally legal, but depends highly upon the nature of collaboration between the person asking and person sharing the article).
• Get it from your employer. People who work at large hospitals (or large networks) are often surprised to learn that they actually have journal access similar to what universities have. Ask your employer about this.
• Other search options: It may also be helpful to look for at what the scientist's university offers. Most universities have some version of an institutional repository (also called scholarly commons), where they host research published by their scientists. Sometimes free, but not always. First, you have to know what university the scientist publishing the article works at (usually shown on the journal's website). Then, you can look at a list, or just Google the university's repository. Searching repositories is a much bigger pain than Google, but, hey, if you want to save a buck!
• This last one we can't endorse as an option because it's not legal. Yes, some people are getting what they need through massive sources of pirated journal articles. Though we cannot recommend such sites, we do think it's important you know about things like Sci-Hub because of how it's changing the climate of academic publishing. To learn more, see here, here, and here.

​So clearly there are many options. And the method for accessing research articles for the general public is far from ideal. For now, we simply encourage you to be part of the conversation on what SLPs need in order to provide evidence-based practice. What can you do? Start by making sure your science colleagues know how to legally self-archive (that is, share their research online for free). Any time scientists do that, we'll be able to link out to their lab pages from The Informed SLP!