About the project
One place to find out whether you can read a research paper, and what to do if you can't.
The problem
When you or someone you care for has a diagnosis, the most detailed information is often in research papers. But many of those papers sit behind journal paywalls, at around $30 to $50 each. Universities and hospitals pay for subscriptions, so researchers and doctors read them without noticing the paywall. Patients and caregivers usually don't have that access.
Legal free copies exist for many papers: the published version on an open-access journal, an author's manuscript in NIH's PubMed Central, a copy in a university archive or a preprint. But finding one means trying site after site, and links listed as "free" are sometimes out of date. And when there's no free copy, few people know that they can simply ask the author, or that their public library can get the article through interlibrary loan.
What this site does today
- Searches the legal sources for you: OpenAlex, PubMed Central, Europe PMC, publisher sites, university repositories, preprint servers, and archived copies of open-access journals that have gone offline.
- Checks that the link actually opens to the paper, not a paywall or login page. When a site blocks our check, we say so instead of guessing.
- Tells you when a paper will become free, if it's waiting out a journal's embargo in PubMed Central.
- Connects you to the author. We find a published email address and draft a polite request. You send it yourself, from your own email.
- Points you to your library. We find the public library system for your ZIP code and give you the details its interlibrary loan form asks for.
- Helps you understand it. We show the abstract and give you a prompt to use with an AI assistant, with notes on its limits.
How we stay legal
- We only link to copies that are legally free to read. We never host or share paywalled papers, and we don't work around paywalls or bot checks.
- You don't need an account or to give us your name or email to search. We don't send emails for you, and your ZIP code stays in your browser.
Where we're going
These are plans, not promises. They depend on what people find useful.
- Patient access, like institutional access. Researchers read papers through their university's subscriptions. We want to find ways for patients to get similar access, for example through public libraries or patient organizations.
- Clear, fair paid options. When there's no free route, show the real choices side by side: buying from the publisher, renting through services like DeepDyve, or document delivery through a library.
- Showing which papers patients need. Anonymous counts of which paywalled papers people search for could help persuade publishers, funders and authors to make them free.
- Plain-language explanations. Reliable summaries of a paper's findings and limitations, reviewed for safety, for people without a science background.
- Working with patient groups and librarians, who already help people find research every day.
Not medical advice
A research paper describes a study, not what's right for you. Bring what you read to your doctor and use it to have a better conversation.