How to Access Paywalled Research Papers For Free

First of all, I’d encourage you to check with your organizations. Organizations such as universities usually subscribe to journals relevant to their research. However, if you are not associated with any organizations but are interested in research papers, please keep reading this article.

Take Advantage of “Open Access” or “Free Access” Papers

Some journals provide a few free articles in each issue. For example, Strategic Management Journal offers authors the ability to publish their articles Open Access: immediately free to read, download, and share. If a paper has the “Open Access” option, you can have access to the full text for free. This is how I had access to the first research paper that I’ve ever read.

Become a Member of a Professional Association

I will use the Academy of Management (AOM) as an example. Once you become a member, you will have access to AOM’s top-ranked and peer-reviewed journals, such as Academy of Management Journal and Academy of Management Review. Additionally, you will be able attend annual meetings and events to build your network and grow as a young scholar. What makes this membership even better is that the membership fee for a student is only $99 a year.

Check Out the Author’s Academic Profile

Some authors provide links to the full text of their research papers on their websites. It can be their faculty profiles created by the universities they work for, their personal websites, or their Google Scholar pages.

Reach Out to the Author Directly

You can also reach out to the authors, tell them that you are interested in their research, and ask if they can send you a copy of the paper. I know cold-emailing someone you don’t know can be a little bit awkward. The worst case scenario is that you don’t get a response, but if you do, this conversation could be a trigger of collaboration opportunity.