Top 10 Open Access Library Databases: Best for Academic Research
Feb 21, 2023 |
10 Mins ReadOpen access gives the public unrestricted online access to academic content found in scholarly publications. Over a third of all research articles are now published in Open Access (STM Association 2021). The increased adoption of Open Access in research fields comes as no surprise. Open Access creates value by streamlining the process of publishing for authors and enhancing readership by making more quality academic content available for free.
Open access publishing drives a wider conversation with scholars, policy makers, practitioners, clinicians, and the public to be able to read and circulate research. This dissemination of research can potentially improve current methods of practices and policies across a variety of fields and disciplines.
The surge in Open Access publishing and usage has created a movement with ardent support from social impact groups who are campaigning for open access to help bridge the gap of inequality that exists in academic publishing. Open access allows for greater inclusivity in scholarly communities. Open Access research means more people can make evidence-based decisions and continue learning with our barriers throughout their life. Learning should not stop when you finish school or complete your degree.
Benefits of Open Access
- Increased readership: The ease of Open Access publishing means more people around the world can read the latest research for free. This helps build knowledge communities globally and supports lifelong learning.
- Opportunity for citations: citations act as a roadmap in research. The more citations an article gets, the greater the chance for future research. Since Open Access is free and available globally, more people can cite the research
- Transparency: Integrity is strengthened by the free availability of research. Especially if access is openly granted to this data. Thereby making said research more transparent.
If you’re a student, researcher, or professional, you can join the Open Access movement and access millions of journals, proceedings, articles, and more for free now. Here are 10 of the most popular Open Access library databases:
Zendy is an online library that provides open access research worldwide. With over 43 million articles, journals, and e-books, Zendy is a publishing platform that offers a diverse selection of research across all major disciplines. From science to mathematics, technology, humanities, biology, physics, and more. What makes Zendy unique is that we help you make research easy. You can save lists based on your projects, favorite articles you want to read later, and even access your full reading history.
Research4Life equips institutions in low and middle-income countries with online access to academic peer-reviewed resources. This open access library specialises in teaching, research, and policymaking in health, agriculture, environment, and physical and social sciences.
DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals
DOAJ was launched in 2003 and started with 300 open access journals and has now grown to 18,000 journals. This publisher offers community-curated lists of open access material and holds together a variety of reputable researchers and content.
Google Scholar is a freely accessible search engine that locates full text or metadata of scholarly literature in an array of fields and formats. Google Scholar offers peer-reviewed online academic journals and e-books, conference papers, dissertations, abstracts, technical reports, and other scholarly literature.
OAPEN is a non-profit organization that is based in the Netherlands. This open access library is a great source for open access academic research. Creating a platform for a diverse set of fields and disseminating the research within those fields, OAPEN is a very reliable publisher of peer-reviewed books.
ScienceOpen functions as a research and publishing network. Offering over 74 million articles in all areas of science, all you need to do to access full-text articles is register for free.
Established in 2008, ResearchGate is a valuable platform that allows researchers to connect, collaborate and share their research with everyone. Most researchers on the platform specialize in medicine or biology however academic content on engineering, computer science, agriculture sciences, and psychology is also abundant.
OpenDOAR was launched in 2005; the platform is a collaboration between Lund University and the University of Nottingham. OpenDOAR serves as a global directory of open access repositories.
Social Science Research Network
The social science research network houses academic sources across all scientific disciplines. Dedicated to worldwide open access dissemination of research, SSRN is a great open access platform that works across a plethora of networks and disciplines.
arXiv is an open access archive for over 2 million scholarly articles in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, electrical engineering, and economics. Publishing across these various disciplines, the network has well-rounded academic content that is posted after a series of moderation but is not peer-reviewed.
It’s a transformative time for Open Access. Together with leading global publishers, Zendy is committed to empowering discussions about how Open Access content can contribute to a more equitable future.
Discover millions of journals, proceedings, e-books, and more now on Zendy
Online Research Tools You Need to Know About in 2024
When we think about research tools, the first thing that comes to our mind is laboratory equipment, survey questionnaires, traditional statistical software, interviews, and more. But in 2024, things are changing. More online tools are being integrated into the research process, and they can save you a lot of time. After reading this blog, you’ll be introduced to some of the latest tools used in research in 2024, some of which you might not have encountered before. If you’re just starting your research or are unsure where to begin, these research tools can help you get started and make your work easier. Brainstorming Tools Defining a clear scientific topic has always been the challenging part of the research process. Even with a deep understanding of the field, researchers cannot stop asking themselves, “Do I provide a real solution?” That’s why brainstorming is such an important step, as it helps you go from Zero to One. Here’s a list of research tools used in brainstorming to help you set up your topics and make sure it’s unique and relevant. Miro Miro is an online platform for you and your colleagues to gather every idea in one place. It gives you plenty of templates such as mind maps, bubble maps, or even tree maps with sticky notes that will help you pull out your thoughts from your mind right in front of your eyes. This easy and simple online tool used in research will save you hours of thinking inside your head. MindMeister What makes MindMeister unique and suitable for research tools is that it has the user interface of what a researcher's mind needs, especially in the phase of choosing a topic. You and your team can use MindMeister on the go with a native mobile application for both Android and iOS.Benefits? ToolFree Plan FeaturesMiro3 editable boards, templates, 100+ integrationsMindMeisterUp to 3 mind maps, unlimited collaborators and mobile apps. The bottom line is to always start with a broad field and gradually narrow your focus to recent trends and challenges to address a problem and its potential solution until you find a relevant and unique question to answer. Literature Search & Access Tools Now, after a long day of brainstorming, you finally have your next research topic in hand. It’s time to conduct and structure a literature review to set the stage for your research question. In the past, researchers would travel to universities and libraries to access academic resources. With the arrival of the internet, they began to search online across many websites. Now, there are millions of research papers available online. Despite the increased accessibility, the need for a one-stop shop for peer-reviewed academic papers has become essential. These research tools have been designed to provide access to millions of articles in one place, while also offering features to help you organise them efficiently. Zendy With over 40 million research papers on a wide range of topics used by over 600,000 researchers worldwide, Zendy is one of the top 10 open access library databases that offer much more than just an online database for academic resources. Its simple, easy-to-use interface and powerful search filters make it one of the most efficient research tools available. This allows you to quickly find the articles you need, organise your sources and build a solid foundation for your research, saving you both time and money during the literature review stage. With Zendy, you have three options: Zendy Open – The free plan gives access to open-access articles. Zend Plan gives you unlimited AI research tools, including ZAIA, AI Summarise, Insights, PDF Analysis, and Keyphrase Highlight. Zendy Plus – Full access to paywalled articles along with unlimited usage of AI tools. Google Scholar Google Scholar is one of the most widely used research tools today. It’s a free tool that allows researchers to easily search through millions of academic articles, theses, books, and conference papers across various disciplines. In 2024, it continues to be an essential tool for students, professionals and researchers who need quick access to high-quality, peer-reviewed materials. While Google Scholar may not have the same in-depth organisational tools as other research tools, its ability to provide access to a vast amount of information with minimal effort makes it a go-to option for many researchers. Reference and Citation Management Tools Organising large amounts of data, sharing findings with colleagues, managing complex citations and references, and, of course, keeping up with deadlines, these tasks can be time-consuming and feel overwhelming. However, tools used in research like Zotero and Paperpile can help take care of all these details. These research tools make managing your project a lot easier, allowing you to focus on what really matters without getting weighed down by the small stuff. Instead of having documents and notes scattered all over the place, tools used in research like Zotero and Paperpile keep everything in one spot, so it’s easy to find what you need, saving time and reducing mistakes. Zotero Zotero is one of the great research tools for organising your project. It automatically grabs citation details from websites and academic databases, and you can attach PDFs, notes and other files to each reference, so everything stays in one place. Zotero allows you to organise your research into collections and tags, making it easier to find what you need later. It also integrates with Word and Google Docs to add citations and create bibliographies while you write. Plus, it syncs across devices, so you can access your research anytime, anywhere. It's a simple way to stay organised and keep everything in one spot. Paperpile If you’re looking for research tools that integrate easily with Google’s ecosystem, Paperpile is the best choice. It’s specifically built for Google apps! You can organise, find and collect, download and sync, annotate, share, and cite in Google Docs. With its clean interface and integration with Google, Paperpile is a great choice for anyone looking to simplify research management. It’s straightforward, user-friendly and saves lots of hours. Data Collection and Survey Tools Not so long ago, researchers often gathered data based on assumptions and possibilities within a small circle of interest, which wasn’t always accurate. Today, with the help of advanced research tools, you can collect and analyse data more precisely from a broader range of samples online. Jotform I’ve tried Jotform, and in just 1:57 minutes, I created an account and built a form with basic questions (name, age, location, background, etc.) using its drag-and-drop feature. It’s incredibly easy and fast to use. In addition, Jotform offers many features, such as adding collaboration and integration with various project management software. It is a great tool used in research to simplify data collection. Google Forms You may have noticed what makes Google's tools on top is their straightforward, fast, free and most of all, their simplicity. This simplicity is what makes Google stand out. Google Forms, for example, allows you to create extensive questionnaires and surveys that are easy for your target audience to use and comprehend. Its integration with other Google tools, like Google Sheets, makes it easy to manage and analyse responses all in one place. For researchers looking for research tools to gather data, Google Forms offers an effortless option for collecting valuable data. Project Management and Collaboration The right project management and collaboration research tools can make it much easier to stay on top of everything. Notion and Trello are two popular choices among researchers, and they are reliable options that can help you bring structure to your research management with less effort. Notion Notion is a one-stop workspace, combining notes, project management, and databases in one place. You can set up a hub for your research, keep notes, track references, and collaborate with others in real time, adapting it to fit the specific needs of your project. Trello Sometimes, seeing tasks laid out visually makes organising projects a lot easier. Trello is a simple research tool that does just that. It allows you to arrange tasks on boards and lists and view them in either calendar or timeline formats. With Trello, you can sort out to-do lists, create channels for different topics, assign tasks to team members, set deadlines and check your project’s overall progress, all while working together with your colleagues in real time. You will find Trello helpful for managing literature reviews, tracking data collection, and collaborating on research tasks. Academic Writing and Editing While these research tools are helpful, they shouldn’t do all the work for you. They’re best used as a way to clean up your writing, not to create it. The main ideas and structure of your research should come from you, with the tools stepping in to help with the fine details. Let’s take a look at some of the best writing tools used in research that can help you improve your academic writing and make your research easier to read and understand. Grammarly A very practical writing assistant tool offers more than 400 features, including grammar checks, vocabulary improvement suggestions, plagiarism detection, citation recommendations and more. What makes Grammarly really useful is how easy it is to use. You can install it as an extension on your browser or use it in its standalone app, and it works across different platforms, from your computer to your phone. Paperpal Academic writing isn’t just about getting the facts right, it’s about presenting ideas clearly so they’re easy to understand. Most research tools, like spelling and grammar checkers, can help fix basic mistakes, but they’re often not designed for research-level writing. This is where Paperpal really shines. Paperpal is built to support the unique needs of researchers and students. It doesn’t just spot typos; it helps you refine your language, follow academic standards, and structure your paper for better readability. For example, when writing a research paper, Paperpal can suggest improvements that make complex ideas easier to follow and help you use the right tone for a professional audience. With Paperpal, your research writing will meet the standards journals are looking for. This makes it a valuable addition to the tools used in research. In Conclusion 2024 is proving to be an exciting time for the academic industry. Today, researchers have access to an impressive range of research tools, starting with brainstorming platforms to citation managers, academic writing assistants and project management software that make every stage of research more efficient and effective. The right tools used in research can help you focus on what matters most.
Research Better: 6 Best AI Tools for Research Efficiency
The increased usage of AI tools has sparked many conversations in the world of academia, which inspired the innovation of AI tools for research. The integration of technology in academia has brought innovation that introduced digital libraries, plagiarism trackers and grammar-checking softwares, this changed the way researchers write and discover academic literature. In recent years, the academic sphere has witnessed the rapid growth and implementation of AI, which we believe can be leveraged to create efficiency in research. As an AI-powered research library, Zendy provides key tools like summarisation and keyphrase highlighting to streamline the process of literature review, we also developed and launched ZAIA, the AI research assistant. These tools have been designed to create efficiency in research, which allows researchers to invest significant time in data analysis and their primary research. With the growing integration of AI products, we believe in the ethical use of AI in the world of research while also harnessing the innovative technology to streamline research processes amongst students and researchers alike. According to a study that looked at the usage of AI amongst students, it was found that every fourth student (25.2%) uses AI-based tools frequently, while almost half of the students (47.8%) use AI-based tools occasionally. Slightly more than a third of the students (36.6%) do not use AI-based tools at all. In this blog, we recommend the 6 best AI-driven tools to assist you with annotating, citing and more! 1. ZAIA AI Assistant for Research ZAIA is a domain-specific LLM designed to assist researchers in understanding essential research concepts and finding relevant papers. This tool enhances the efficiency of the literature review process, providing answers backed by millions of academic research papers. 2. Semantic Scholar Housing over 200 million papers from all fields of science, this tool generates a comprehensive summary of an academic paper, including the area of study the research addressed and its overall impact on the discipline. 3. Paperguide Paperguide is an all in one AI workspace for researchers to conduct literature reviews, understand and extract data from scientific papers, collaborate, manage and write research. 4. Tableau This tool generates date visualisation and analytical tools for businesses and researchers. The platform is equipped with Einstein AI which is driven by machine learning and delivers predictions and recommendations within Tableau workflows to assist with efficient decision-making. 5. Scite.ai This is a well-rounded citation tool that provides context to citations by clearly stating whether an academic paper supports or contrasts the cited claim. This helps researchers save time having to read lengthy papers and quickly determine whether the citation is relevant to their research. 6. Consensus AI This tool annotates insights about research papers using AI. It produces “study snapshots” to condense lengthy research papers by mentioning study aims, variables, and findings. The platform also provides credible responses backed by academic papers to queries, by presenting research papers that both support and contrast the query, allowing users to browse through objective responses. Limitations of AI Tools While AI tools are effective in streamlining research processes, they raise ethical concerns and can impact research integrity if misused. AI raises ethical issues including data privacy, algorithm bias and misuse of AI. However, due to the increasing usage of AI tools, policies are developing quickly to ensure the technology is adequately regulated. Tips for Using AI Tools in Research Follow these recommendations to ensure ethical AI usage: Always fact-check content generated by AI tools Do not write academic articles using AI tools. Instead, use these tools to edit and structure original research content. Do not use AI tools to generate references, instead use it to manage and store the references. Use AI tools that produce accurate results. Incorporate your own voice and style of written content as much as possible. In conclusion, AI is a resourceful innovation in academic research when used ethically. The correct and responsible usage of AI can create immeasurable efficiency in research processes, and aid in citation management, resource annotation, data visualization, literature discoverability and summarisation.Discover a comprehensive suite of AI-driven tools like summarisation, keyphrase highlighting and ZAIA - AI assistant for research on Zendy now.
23 Reflections to Recap Zendy's 2023 Journey
Welcome to Zendy’s annual recap, where we reflect on another year of milestones. The ever-evolving landscape of scholarly communication this year was anything but stagnant, dominated by themes of openness, integrity, inclusion, and innovation. As we reflect on 2023, we're proud to have welcomed new publishers, attended events, celebrated milestones with our users, and released some really great features to continue to support our users on their research and learning journey. How we enhanced our user experience We developed and launched ZAIA Our most anticipated and exciting feature launch this year was ZAIA - Zendy's AI assistant. Ask any question, and ZAIA will analyse millions of researchers papers to give you credible answers backed by references. If you haven't already, log in to your Zendy account and put ZAIA to the test! We launched Zendy Plus globally We launched our global subscription plan at Frankfurt Book Fair 2023! The plan allows students, researchers and professionals globally to access scholarly material from leading publishers for the monthly price of a single research paper. This was a key milestone for us as our previous Zendy Plus plan was limited to several countries. Having an affordable and equitable access model strengthens our mission to remove the barriers to scholarly literature. Keyphrase Highlighting We released an AI-powered keyphrase highlighting tool. Instead of having multiple tabs open, looking for definitions and further research on a concept, Zendy highlights keyphrases in just one click to allow readers to grasp key research concepts quickly. Summarisation We also released an AI-powered summarisation tool. This tool summarises lengthy research papers into a concise paragraph on demand. This significantly helps readers save time during literature review. Reading Lists Earlier this year, we launched a reading list feature. Reading lists can be used to organise and categorise research papers according to projects, subject areas or whichever method the reader finds simplest to navigate through. New UI coming soon The team has been working on a brand new UI to transform the user journey on Zendy. Zendy will reveal a new fresh look very soon, with additional personalisation features to further enhance the discovery of scholarly literature. Milestones we marked with our users Welcomed over 400,000 readers We’re proud to support over 400,000 readers from 200 countries and territories on Zendy! We thank our valued community for their consistent support. The trust of our community fuels our mission to keep striving for a world where equal access to research is a reality. Over a 6 million searches & 2.5 million downloads We have seen over 6 million keywords searched on the platform. Searches ranging from the neural networks, to enteric bacteria, and social impact - we’re proud to support a diverse community of students, researchers, and professionals. We marked over 2.5 million downloads on Zendy! As we continue to work with new publishers, we look forward to bringing an even better selection of content to our readers. We exhibited, presented, and attended many events! Presented at Charleston Hub 2023 Our Partner Relations Manager, Sara Crowley Vigneau presented at Charleston Hub in partnership with IGI Global. The presentation titled ‘On the Open Road: The story of an OA publication through the stakeholder journey’ looked at the journey of a publication through the eyes of each custodian. Exhibited at STEP 2023 Earlier this year, our team exhibited Zendy at STEP 2023. Showcasing our Zendy alongside various startups inspired the team to learn from other tech products in the Middle Eastern region. Sponsored and presented at the Forum for Open Research MENA We were proud to sponsor the Forum of Open Research MENA, which is an event that highlights and advances open access initiatives in the Arab region. Our head of technology, Rodrigo Pinto, presented his insightful research paper titled, "Leveraging Big Data and Machine Learning to Enhance Open Data Quality: Insights for Developing Regions." Exhibited at Frankfurt Book Fair It was a pleasure to exhibit and connect with new and existing partners at Frankfurt Book fair 2023. We hosted a launch event at this year's fair, showcasing our Zendy Plus global subscription offering. Thanks to all who attended! Presented at the MENA Panel Our co-founder, Kamran Kardan spoke at The MENA panel titled, “AI wrote this abstract: The Impact of AI on higher education and academic research.” The discussion touched on the impact of AI on higher education, dissecting how it affects teaching, learning and ethical guidelines. Attended London Book Fair We attended the London Book Fair earlier this year. Our team met with many of our partners and other key leaders in scholarly communication. We look forward to exhibiting at next year’s fair. Exhibited at UKSG 2023 We also exhibited at our first UKSG conference this year. It was a really great experience connecting with and learning from some of the best minds in our global knowledge community. Joint Webinar with InTechOpen We partnered with InTechOpen to host a joint webinar titled, “Emerging Technologies - Partnering for Accessibility, Discoverability and a Sustainable Future.” Zendy’s Head of Marketing, Monica Chinsami, presented on the panel alongside Prof Tatiana Morosuk, Editorial Board Member of IntechOpen's Green Energy and Environmental Technology (GEET) journal, and Dr Jo Havemann, Co-founder of AfricArXiv. We welcomed new partners IEEE In September, we integrated IEEE’s open access research content. This partnership has brought significant technological research across various areas of study, like aerospace, robotics and more on Zendy. IT Governance In June, we partnered with IT Governance, which is a leading publisher of books on information technology, cybersecurity and governance. IGI Global We partnered with IGI Global, a leading publisher focused on research across different specialisms under the vast umbrella of Science. This partnership saw the addition of leading e-journals as well as book content across subject areas including Business & Management; Scientific, Technical, Medical (STM); and Education. Bristol University Press We also signed an agreement with Bristol University Press. BUP is well known for producing scholarship that advances theory, knowledge and learning within and beyond academia. InTechOpen We also welcomed IntechOpen to our partner community. InTechOpen specialises in journals and books in the fields of Medicine, Technology and Science. A couple of things we published Published SDG Report This year, we published an SDG report in partnership with Knowledge E. This comprehensive report helps us keep track of our efforts in accelerating the aims of the UN’s publishers compact. With a focus on SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), Zendy progresses to ensure that academic research is accessible to everyone everywhere. An analysis of OER’s on Research Information Our co-founder, Kamran Kardan, wrote a piece on the future of Open Educational Resources and how the industry is preparing for them. In summary, with the uncapped potential of responsible AI, the future looks bright and full of innovative opportunities to positively impact societal progress. We look forward to continuing our journey together in 2024, and we thank you for your unwavering support. ol { margin-top: 0 !important; margin-bottom: 0 !important; } ol li { margin-left: 2rem !important; } p { word-break: initial !important; }