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A Website Asked Me To Pay For An Article

If you’re asked online to pay for an article, DON’T! Lesley University Library can usually get you the article for free, either through our full text access or through Interlibrary Loan.

To check whether the Libraries have access to the article, or whether you will need to request that article through Interlibrary Loan, follow these steps.

1. Search @LL Search.

Most of our articles can be found in the library discovery service @LL Search. It is usually easiest to search by title; if you know you have the exact title use quotation marks around it. It may help to add the author's name if you are doing a general keyword search. If you find the article through @LL Search but are still prompted for payment, try our login troubleshooting tips.

2. Search Google Scholar.

If you can't locate the item in @LL Search, try Google Scholar. If you search on campus, or if you are using your computer and have added Lesley University Library to your Google Scholar Library Links, look for the Lesley Univ to the right of the article title.

Screenshot of Google Scholar

 

3. Try sites like Unpaywall or the Open Access Button. Both Unpaywall and the Open Access Button search Open Access content from publishers and repositories so you can quickly and easily find openly available research.

4. Search the Journals List for the publication in which the article appeared.

If you don't find the article in @LL Search or Google Scholar, but you know the journal title or other publication title in which the article appeared (different from the article title), search for the publication in the Journals List. If you locate the publication, you can then search within it for the article.

  • Within the Journals List there may be multiple versions of the journal - some may be available electronically, and others may be available only in print. The catalog records will indicate where the journal is located (e.g. through an online resource or in a print collection).
  • When you locate the journal title, look in the catalog record for the publication dates for which the journal is available. Be sure the publication date of your article matches with the Journal's publication years to which we have access.
  • Access the relevant journal issue and navigate to the article you need. If you're accessing the article electronically and don't see the full text immediately, look for a search box that says "Search Within This Publication" and type the name of the article there.

5. If we do not have the article in our online or print collections, request it through Interlibrary Loan. Do not pay for individual articles - you are already paying for access with your Lesley tuition.

Questions? Ask Us!