Paperless Research

How to Access ScienceDirect

Science DirectScienceDirect is a portal to science journal articles. Science articles are also available through a number of other databases, including Academic Search Premier (EBSCO), JSTOR, Proquest databases, online individual journals and Open Access journals.

Please note: Due to prohibitive costs, we do not subscribe to most of the journals listed in ScienceDirect; just a small number (10%) of titles listed in ScienceDirect will be accessible to you at through the library at no cost. These are mainly Open Access journals. You can save time by following these instructions to find articles you can get free at library locations:

  1. Use Advanced Search.
  2. After selecting "Advanced Search," enter one or more keywords or other search criteria and immediately
    • Refine your search: Uncheck the box labeled "ALL"
    • Check off the two boxes labeled "Subscribed Publications" and "Open Access articles"
  3. Select a topic area and year range (this is optional)

These refinements will limit your search results to only the articles you can access and download free at the Library.

Other ScienceDirect search and browse options:

You can browse publications by broad subject areas: Physical Sciences and Engineering, Life Sciences, Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities, or by more specific topic areas, but this type of search may result mainly in journals which are not accessible through NYPL.

If you select a narrower topic from the Browse Publications by Subject, the next screen will take you to a list of journals by title. To see which of these may be available at the Library, on right of the screen, click on ALL ACCESS TYPES to select Subscription, Complementary, or Open Access.

If the journal you need is not among those categories, it may still be possible for you to access through Interlibrary Loan or through a METRO card referral. Librarians at research locations can check holdings and access policies of institutions and may be able to give you a METRO card to access a specific issue of a science journal in college or university library. Ask a librarian in your local branch or research center.

From the main portal page, below the "Browse Publications by Subject" Box in the middle of the screen, look for the boxes labeled Open Access and ScienceDirect's Top 25.

You can view the "top downloaded" articles list from the main ScienceDirect portal page, which may include "Open Access" or "Open Archive" articles (free and easy access to download). Keep in mind that only some of the top downloaded articles will be accessible at NYPL for free, others will not be.

Examples of the top 25 downloaded article lists for each subject area listed by ScienceDirect :

Agricultural and biological sciences | Biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology | Chemical engineering | Chemistry | Computer science | Decision sciences | Earth and planetary sciences | Energy | Engineering | Environmental science | Immunology and microbiology | Materials science | Mathematics | Medicine and dentistry | Neuroscience | Nursing and health professions | Pharmacology toxicology and pharmaceutical science | Physics and astronomy | Psychology
Veterinary science and veterinary medicine

Don't hesitate to ask a librarian if you have questions about access to science resources.