Many people find it interesting to keep themselves updated will all the new research going on. But, very few people are interested in reading the research papers submitted by the researchers. The few people who wish to access the research papers have to pay a hefty price levied by the publishers.

Probably you are a Ph.D. or Master scholar and do not want to spend excess money on research papers as you may go through several papers to find the right one that really fulfills your research needs. The average cost of downloading a research paper is around $40. Thus, here we are with a list of websites where you can download Research papers or research journals for absolutely free in 2024.

Note: Most of the websites listed below are deemed illegal. Due to this, some of these websites might be blocked by your ISP or in your geographical region.

Thus, we have also provided their mirror links, which you can use to download the research papers. It is also recommended that you use a VPN to protect your privacy.

READ: Top 7 Best Textsheet Alternatives For Students/Collegeious

How to Download Research Papers for Free

1. Sci-Hub

This website is created by Alexandra Elbakyan and was launched in 2011. As of now, it processes over 2,00,000 download requests every day. It has an extensive library and a user-friendly interface.

However, it is accused of copyright infringement and is blocked by several ISP. To download papers from Sci-Hub, follow the steps listed below.

Step 1- Launch a web browser on your device and go to this New Sci-Hub Link, i.e. ‘https://sci-hub.do/‘ link.

Step 2- In the search bar, enter the full name, URL, or DOI of the research paper you wish to download.

Step 3- Now, click on ‘Open,’ and then a full paper in PDF format appears on your screen.

Step 4- Download the research paper once you found it by Clicking on the Download or Print button at the top right corner.

Sci-Hub Proxy Download Links (2024)

Mirror links of Sci-Hub include:

• https://sci-hub.se
• https://sci-hub.shop/
• https://sci-hub.ren/
• https://scihub.wikicn.top/
• https://sci-hub.is

ALSO READ: How to Download Paid Documents from Scribd

2. Unpaywall

This is a Chrome extension, where you will find more than 21 million research papers from over 50,000 publishers for free!

Wherever you visit a website that asks for a payment to download the research paper, click on the green Unpaywall button, and the paper will be downloaded for free.

Follow the steps listed below to add unpaywall extension to your Chrome Web browser.

Step 1- Launch a web browser on your PC and go to ‘https://unpaywall.org/products/extension‘ this link.

Step 2- Here, click on the ‘Add to Chrome‘ option.

Step 3- On the Chrome Web Store, click the ‘Add to Chrome‘ option.

Your Unpaywall extension will be installed, and you can start using it.

3. Library Genesis

This is another website with an extensive database of more than 2.7 million books and 58 million science magazine files. In 2015, this website ran into trouble with Elsevier, one of the world’s largest research papers.

To search and download Research papers on this website, follow the steps listed below.

Step 1- Launch a web browser on your PC and go to ‘https://libgen.is/‘ this link.

Step 2- Type the keywords in the search box and hit Search.

Step 3- Once the results are loaded, click on the research paper you are looking for. Then, click on any of the available mirrors to initiate the downloading process.

Library Genesis Proxy Download Links (2024)

Mirror links of Library Genesis include:

• https://libgen.lc/
• https://gen.lib.rus.ec/
• https://libgen.rs/
• https://libgen.be/

4. Directory of Open Access Journals

This website was released in 2003, and since then, it has expanded in various fields such as science, technology, medicine, social science, and humanities.

Follow the steps listed below to search and download Research papers for free.

Step 1- Launch a web browser on your PC and go to ‘https://doaj.org/‘ this link.

Step 2- Type the keywords in the search box and hit Search.

Step 3- Select the research paper you want to download and then click on the “Full Text” option.

The research paper will be downloaded on your device for free.

ALSO READ: Best Coursera Alternatives for Free Online Learning

5. ScienceOpen.

This website was released in 2013, and since then, it has been providing unparalleled services to researchers and publishers.

ScienceOpen has more than 66 Million publications, 25k Journals from 27 Million authors. Follow the steps listed below to download research papers for free.

Step 1- Launch a web browser on your device and go to ‘https://www.scienceopen.com‘ on this website.

Step 2- Enter the keywords in the search box and hit Enter.

Once the results are loaded, you can easily download your required research paper for free.

6. CORE

This is a highly simplified website from where you can search and download any research paper for free! It has an extensive library with millions of research papers. Also, new papers are added to it frequently.

You can access this website from ‘https://core.ac.uk‘ this link. A distinguishing feature of this website is that your research papers are downloaded in PDF format.

Conclusion:

These are some of the best websites and methods to download any Research papers for free in 2024. You can check them out and decide which one suits you the best. If we have missed out on any such useful website, please let us know about it in the comments section below.