Reading Scientific Articles – Where to Read Them for Free?

Have you ever tried accessing a scientific article only to discover that you cannot read it without paying? While this is the case with most scientific articles, there are platforms where you can enjoy reading scientific articles for free. This article will help you discover sources for reading scientific articles for free and guide you on the proper way to read.

Definition: Reading scientific articles

Reading scientific articles is not like going through a blog or literary article. Scientific articles are more complex. Reading scientific articles helps you conceive and execute successful advanced science projects. It also helps you gain a better understanding of scientific concepts. Therefore, reading scientific articles requires more seriousness.¹

Reading scientific articles for free

Several platforms on the internet require individuals to pay a fee in order to gain full access to scientific articles. However, you can still use many free platforms.³

Some people assume that platforms that offer free scientific articles are either illegal or scam-related.⁴ While this may be true in some cases, there are several legal platforms/websites where reading scientific articles will not cost you.⁵

Some of these platforms/websites are:

1. The New England Journal of Medicine – general medical articles
2. Nature – general science
3. American Journal of Cardiology – cardiology articles
4. Google Scholar
5. IEEE Xplore
6. National Agricultural Library
7. Education Resources Information Center

Nowadays, there are also mobile apps, like Unpaywall, that grant you free and legal access to scientific articles.⁶

How to read scientific articles

Most scientists spend a lot of their time reading scientific articles and papers. This allows them to stay up-to-date in their field, advance their understanding, and gather information for projects.⁵

Since they are different from other texts, reading scientific articles also requires special attention and skill.⁴ Below is a guide for reading scientific articles.

Step 1: Skim the article

You can begin reading scientific articles by skimming through them. Skimming is a reading technique where you focus on the main points of the text instead of reading every word.⁷ The goal here is to get some insight into what the paper is about. You can familiarize yourself with the structure of the article while skimming.³

Skimming through the article also helps you understand its main points. It gives you an overall sense of the article’s logical progression.⁴ This step can also help you determine which part of the article you should place more focus on if you have limited time.⁷

Furthermore, skimming helps you decide if the article is worth reading fully or if you should consider another one. Your decision should be based on the relevance of the article to your goal. For instance, if your aim is researching for a dissertation, the article should be relevant to the research questions and the subject of the dissertation.³

Here are guidelines for skimming an article:

Step 2: Re-read the article

Once you have an overall idea of what the article is about, you can move on to the next step, which is re-reading the article. This is where you go back to the beginning and read every word.

While reading the article, remember that you are doing it to gather information, not for fun. Therefore, reading scientific articles should not be approached like reading a novel. Your goal should be to extract information from the text.⁴

If you come across important information while reading scientific articles, it would be wise to stop reading and soak in the data. Sometimes, you may have to write down some information for further research or re-read a paragraph for better understanding. The key is to gain knowledge from the article and not just complete it.²

In some instances, you may not have to read the entire article. The skimming stage allows you to discover areas of the article that are more important.⁵

Step 3: Interpret the article

The next step of reading scientific articles is interpretation. This step is significantly dependent on step 2 as you can only interpret information that you have noted from re-reading.³

The interpretation stage may call for further reading, especially if you come across parts of the article, terms, or words that you do not understand. It is worth mentioning that your interpretation should be based on how you have understood the article, and not the author’s opinion.

Ensure to note down the key takeaways you have from reading the article. Also, note the main point driven by the article.¹

Step 4: Summarize the article

After reading and interpreting the article, summarizing should be easy. You can go back to your notes to find the key points.

Critical reading of scientific articles

Reading scientific articles critically is not as difficult as most people may assume. Reading a scientific article critically involves making sure that the article is of high quality. The quality of the article will depend on the writer, publisher, the place of publication, and the content.³

You must also check the references to ensure the quality and reliability of the article.³ Questioning the content is also important. Additionally, you ought to conduct further research on the content so you do not end up taking only one expert’s word on a topic.²

You may discover people with different opinions on the same topic. In such cases, it is upon you to form your own opinion based on the information you have gathered.⁵

A significant part of reading scientific articles critically is critical thinking. It is wise to remember that while the articles are peer-reviewed and written by experts, you can still question them and their validity.

For instance, you can critically analyze the sampling and data collection processes before choosing to go by what the article says.² Doing this will help you avoid misleading content and allow you to see beyond the writer’s notions.

Keep in mind that every research has strengths and limitations. Make sure to consider these elements in your interpretation after reading scientific articles.

Sources

¹ Science Buddies. “Resources for Finding and Accessing Scientific Papers.” Accessed on May 11, 2023. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/competitions/finding-and-accessing-scientific-papers.

² Vance, Mary. “How to Read a Scientific Article.” Psychology Today. August 7, 2018. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/parallel-process/201808/how-read-scientific-article.

³ Study International. “How to read a scientific journal for free.” September 4, 2019. https://www.studyinternational.com/news/read-scientific-journal-free/.

⁴ Tranby, Brianna. “Your Guide to Reading Scientific Papers.” Mayo Clinic. August 14, 2019. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/hlhs/newsfeed-post/your-guide-to-reading-scientific-papers/.

⁵ Rodriguez, Natalia. “Infographic: How to read a scientific paper.” Elsevier. April 5, 2015. https://www.elsevier.com/connect/infographic-how-to-read-a-scientific-paper.

⁶ Dockrill, Peter. “This App Is Leading The Revolution in Free Access to Scientific Papers.” Science Alert. August 9, 2017. https://www.sciencealert.com/the-app-that-lets-you-read-scientific-papers-free-is-transforming-how-we-access-knowledge.

⁷ Chase the Write Dream. “What Is Skim Reading and What Are Its Benefits?” Accessed on May 11, 2023. https://chasethewritedream.com/what-is-skim-reading-and-what-are-its-benefits/.