Access to scientific articles that cite mine after leaving academia

Question

I used to work in academia. I was lucky enough to publish important papers in peer reviewed journals that now regularly get cited by other papers in peer reviewed journals. I have left academia to work in the private sector, so every time I get a notification that my work has been cited elsewhere in a non open access journal, I can't even see how it was used. I should be able to ensure my work isn't mis-quoted or wrongly interpreted, but I can't without paying extensive fees for each and every article...

Is sci-hub my only non-option because I refuse to use illegal means?

Answer 1

You can write an e-mail to the authors and ask for a copy of their published paper. Almost everyone will be happy to send you one.

Before doing that, check if the paper is already published on their webpage, or if they have submitted it to a preprint server. Use of preprint servers and embargo periods vary among the various disciplines --- in some fields you are more likely to find it online earlier, in others it's almost impossible.

Answer 2

Some options:

https://openaccessbutton.org/
http://unpaywall.org/
http://doai.io/

Also, Google Scholar will sometimes list mirror versions located elsewhere online.

That said, both with that and with contacting the author on whether you can access the article, you cannot be sure that the author has studied the publisher's terms and is allowed to share it, so it's quite hard to make sure you're not using illegal means.

Another option is to walk into an academic library and download them on their guest WiFi.

Answer 3

Your local library probably has access to academic journals through JSTOR. Unfortunately it takes a few years for journals to be added to that.

Another option is to get access through the library at your university. Alumni are often given library privileges and even if that is not the case, as former staff, you might be able to set up some sort of arrangement. Get in touch with someone from your former department and ask how can you get access to scientific journals.

Answer 4

I have the same problem.

I used to just go to the local university library, as others suggested. But that doesn't work any more because I no longer live anywhere near a good library.

I eventually solved the problem by volunteering to serve as an associate editor of one of the main journals in my field, and I serve as a reviewer for other ones. The publisher then gave me open access to those journals and several others that they handle. This works for me because a large fraction of the interesting papers in my field are published in one of two journals. If publishing in your field is more scattered, my approach might not work.

Answer 5

I'm all for open access, but you don't have any special entitlement to access research articles simply because they cite you. It is up to peer reviewers and the editors of the journals that publish the articles to ensure that your work is quoted and interpreted accurately. Thus the method you use to obtain access to these articles should be the same that you use to access any other article you are interested in (contacting the authors to ask for a copy is an excellent method).

Answer 6

Im afraid I have to disagree with the accepted answer. At least in my field of academic medicine (where authors are at least likely to have funding to order reprints), most authors stopped ordering paper reprints more than a decade ago. I used to receive many requests for reprints from eastern Europe and from parts of the far East. Those requests died out as internet access grew.

Writing a senior author these days may net you a PDF, or simply be ignored. Your best bet is a public access library.