Tips and Tricks: How to Access Research for SLPs

Have you ever searched for a journal article only to find it behind a paywall? 

This is so discouraging, especially if you’ve been searching and searching for a research article. It can be frustrating especially when you’ve finally found exactly what you’re looking for but don’t want to pay $60 for the article! I’ve run into this time and time again…

From what it sounds like, I’m not alone in getting defeated when I can’t access research articles. 

We want to stay up to date on evidence based practice, but sometimes it feels like an uphill battle!

I have three tips for accessing research papers:

1. Download the extensions Unpaywall and Open Access Button. If there’s a free version of the paper, it will automatically take you to it.
   
   Go download these now – it’s a game changer! I’ve used Unpaywall for a couple of years now, and it’s amazing that it automatically shows you the green unlocked button on your screen if there is a free version of the article someone – and takes you straight to it!
   
2. Try googling the article and see if you can find it online. It may be on the researcher’s own website or on ResearchGate.
   
3. Email the author and request a copy of the paper! Many authors are happy to share.

If you are a student or work for a large institution, you should be able to access research through their library. Another helpful article on this topic is from The Informed SLP: How to get access to full journal articles

The website csdisseminate.com is another great source. They are working hard on educating SLPs about how to obtain free access to journal articles.

If you’re hoping to be better about staying on top of the latest research, I highly recommend looking into The Informed SLP. I have been a paying member for a couple of years now, and they do all the legwork in finding new journal articles, reading them, and summarizing them in helpful bite-sized pieces. It saves you the time or finding and reading articles!

Hopefully, this is helpful and avoids some headaches in the future, and encourages you to read more research! Bookmark this post, save it to Pinterest, and forward it to a fellow SLP/SLPA!

Do you have any other tricks for accessing full research papers?

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