Research database access

Something exciting’s coming…

Based on member feedback, we’re making changes to the research database access we provide for members. We know that you’ve not always found the service has provided you with the up-to-date, full-text journal article access you want. Something new will be coming – but in the meantime, here’s a selection of the best places to find free access to high-quality education research.

1: Google Scholar provides an extensive database of research articles. Including ‘PDF’ in your search terms can help to locate a free, full-text PDF version of the articles you are looking for.

2:  There are several social-media-esque research sites where academics upload their publications for you to access free of charge. Even if the article your looking for isn’t there, there’s often a way to contact the academic and ask for a copy – you’ll be surprised how happy they usually are to help! Academia and ResearchGate are two popular ones.

3: Many universities have repositories where their staff publish their papers (as well as individual pages for staff). For example, UCL’s repository is their Research Publications Service.

We’ll add more suggestions to this page, as well as opportunities to inform and contribute to our new approach to research access, in due course.