An Overview of Open Access Scholarly Article Discovery Tools

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the most popular open-access discovery tools, their important features, and their significance for the research community and librarians. The study found that Unpaywall and EndNote Click (Kopernio) are the best extensions for finding Open Access (AO) scholarly articles. Unpaywall and EndNote Click have broad coverage areas, easily show OA articles where they are legally deposited, an easy download procedure, user-friendly settings, etc. Both extensions have a campus library integration module. EndNote Click has a locker system for saving the PDF for future use. On EndNote, users can get full text articles that are not freely available through the "Request" tool from a publisher or author. Both extensions are linked to social media platforms such as Twitter, email, Facebook, Linekdin, and others. However, many libraries integrate their institutional repository with these plug-ins to easily manage the resource and get better benefits from these browser extension tools to increase the value and usage of the library collections. Users can access their library subscriptions on and off campus through these tools’ settings.