You may find websites that provide different levels of access to scholarly research depending on how the research is allowed to be distributed.
Types of Access
| Type |
What is it? |
Example |
Impact |
| Closed Access |
Under the closed access model, a scholarly article is only available on a publisher’s website, through a database subscription, in print, or through another limited form of distribution. These materials can't be accessed without a subscription, institutional affiliation, or direct payment to the publisher. |
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It can be more difficult for unaffiliated researchers and the general public to find and use scholarly research. Users may be asked to sign in or pay for an article before viewing or downloading it. Purchasing a single article can be cost-prohibitive for unaffiliated users and it doesn't guarantee that the user can save or print the article for future use.
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| Open Access |
Open access is a growing movement within higher education that emphasizes the right to access knowledge without barriers.
Open access articles can be shared with few or no limitations.
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Some journals are entirely open access which means that all of their articles can be viewed and downloaded at no cost to the user.
Some journal publishers will make available a limited number of articles or journal issues with few or no limitations.
The UMass Global Library's curated selection of open access databases can be found by searching the Databases List and limiting the All Databases Type drop-down menu to Open Access, or scrolling through the entire list and looking for the open lock icon: 
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Resources
Learn more about Open Access by starting with the following websites:
