Browser Extensions for accessing research articles

If you are off-campus and find a link to an article, the publisher's page may ask you to pay for access. These browser plugins can help provide a quick way to get access through the library, or find open access copies. 

Librarian's Recommendations

List of Browser Extensions and tools

  • Proxy Bookmarklet - all browsers - One button to log into the library's proxy server and reload the current page. Provides access to UPEI-licensed articles and books, saving you the trouble of searching through the library website. Not a plugin - does not collect any data.
  • Unpaywall - Chrome and Firefox - Find an open access copy of this article in an Institutional Repository server or in a PrePrint server. Free and legal. Articles must have a DOI.
  • OpenAccessButton - not clear - similar to Unpaywall, but will also help you request the author to release an open access copy if they have one.
  • LibX Toolbar for UPEI - Chrome and Firefox - Right-click options (see demo below) let you re-load through the proxy (like the Proxy Bookmarklet), and also search the catalogue and databases. (see quick 3-slide demo)
  • EndNote Click -  - Find UPEI-licensed or open access copies of an article. A corporate plugin that requires an EndNote Click account. Your data and history are saved to an EndNote Click "locker". Note: This tool interfaces with the reference manager EndNote, but UPEI subscribes to a different reference manager, Refworks.  (FAQ)

 

Here is a sample screenshot of what the LibX context (right-click) menu looks like when you use it with text selected (in this example, a book title from Google Scholar search results):

Context menu showing links to "search library catalogue", "search oneSearch" and "search google scholar" for selected text, among others

 

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