Post #3469634

2026-06-29 11:57 UTC

PRO TIP: if you want access to an academic paper, but you don't have a subscription to the journal, you can often get the paper for free by emailing one of the authors. There is nothing academics love more than people taking an interest in their nerd shit (affectionate).

Replies (10)

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online 2026-06-29 11:58

Also, the actual authors of academic papers don't make their money off of people subscribing to journals, so they're often happy to share their work with curious people.

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@mamsell@chaos.social 2026-06-29 12:04

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online can confirm, this works!

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@A_denie@toot.io 2026-06-29 13:10

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online I DID THIS TODAY AND IT WORKED

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@rootsandcalluses@mstdn.social 2026-06-29 14:26

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online True. Did this a lot for my BA thesis. Most responded and provided whatever was needed. I got some pretty great interviews, too. Scientists are usually pretty approachable people.

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@6@possum.city 2026-06-29 15:10

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online this is, if https://unpaywall.org/ doesn't know of an option already, of course

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@EvelineSulman@akademienl.social 2026-06-29 20:16

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online yes, indeed!

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@yukijoou@fedi.kemonomimi.gay 2026-06-29 21:34

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online also: sometimes libraries have access to academic articles! check if your local library does that. if it doesn't, check if your national library does in france, you can get a researcher pass at the national public library for €55/year (€35/year for students, free for disabled people), that gives you access to most journals through their proxy.

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@alicecrux@kolektiva.social 2026-06-29 23:39

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online this one (sorry for shitty alt-text)

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@a_cubed@mastodon.social 2026-06-30 04:06

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online Also consider installing the unpaywall addon for browsers (firefox and chrome) that finds and provides a link for institutional repository or academia.edu/researchgate etc available copies (not to the shadow libraries like zlob or libgen).

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@simonwilliamson@mastodon.world 2026-06-30 14:56

@BathysphereHat@mastodon.online one academic sent me a free dictionary of the Tangut language from Japan because I enquired (and I can't remember why) if it would be possible to buy a copy.

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