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15 Best Websites to Download Research Papers for Free

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Is your thirst for knowledge limited by expensive subscriptions? Explore the best websites to download research papers for free and expand your academic reach.

Today, navigating through the academic terrain often feels like being stuck in an intellectual desert, parched for knowledge.

With paywalls acting like impenetrable fortresses, accessing scholarly articles becomes a herculean task. However, a beacon of hope exists in the form of free-access platforms, quenching our thirst for intellectual wisdom. Let’s set sail on this scholarly journey.

Table of Contents

Do you recall the Z Library, a once-prominent source of free academic resources? While its seizure by the FBI was a stark reminder of copyright considerations, it also marked a transformative phase in the digital academic landscape. 

Today’s champions of academia aren’t just about offering free access, they uphold ethics and copyright respectability. Let’s delve into these repositories that are reshaping the academia world. You can download free research papers from any of the following websites.

Best Websites to Download Research Papers

#1. sci-hub – best for accessing paywalled academic papers.

• Unlocks millions of academic articles
• Known as the ‘Robin Hood’ of research
• Free and easy to use

Sci-Hub is the defiant maverick of the academic sphere. Often termed the “Pirate Bay of Science,” it presents an unconventional solution to the paywall barrier, freely providing access to a vast range of scholarly literature.

What are the benefits of Sci-Hub?

• Unlimited Access: Unlocks paywalled research papers
• Extensive Database: Hosts a wide variety of academic disciplines
• User-friendly: Features a simple interface and easy navigation

Despite its contentious standing, Sci-Hub offers an invaluable service to knowledge-seekers. While navigating the tightrope between access and legality, it represents a game-changing force in the world of academic research.

Source: https://www.sci-hub.se

#2. Library Genesis (Libgen) – Best for a Wide Range of Books and Articles

• Houses a comprehensive collection of books and articles
• Allows downloading in various formats
• Free and efficient

If the pursuit of knowledge was a grand voyage, Library Genesis, or Libgen, would undoubtedly be your trusty compass and map. Like the vast sea brimming with hidden treasures, Libgen is an expansive library with riches ranging from academic papers to rare textbooks, and even popular fiction. 

It’s not just a repository, but a vibrant confluence of multiple disciplines and interests, catering to the unique intellectual appetite of each knowledge seeker.

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What are the benefits of Libgen?

• Multidisciplinary: Holds resources for a vast array of subjects
• Diverse Content: Offers not just articles but also books, textbooks, and fiction
• Format Freedom: Allows content download in various formats

Libgen, with its remarkable expanse and variety, is the academic equivalent of a treasure trove. It’s a one-stop destination for researchers and readers, making it an invaluable ally in the quest for knowledge.

Source: https://libgen.is

#3. Unpaywall – Best for Legal Open Access Versions of Scholarly Articles

• Provides legal access to millions of academic articles
• Fast and user-friendly
• Free and ethically sound

Unpaywall is the stately knight of the academic world. Upholding the banner of ethics, it gallantly charges through the battlefield of paywalls, breaking barriers and making scholarly literature accessible.

Unpaywall doesn’t just give you a key; it gives you a legal, ethically sound key to the treasure chest of academic wisdom. This website is not merely a tool; it’s a testament to the idea that knowledge should be accessible to all, without compromising on legality and respect for authorship.

What are the benefits of Unpaywall?

• Legal Access: Enables legitimate access to research papers
• Wide Reach: Features an extensive, continuously updated database
• Cost-free: All services are available without any charges

For those who believe in the harmony of free access and ethical consideration, Unpaywall is a guiding star. It reflects an ideal blend of accessibility, legality, and respect for intellectual property .

Source: https://unpaywall.org

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#4. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – Best for Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journals

• Repository of high-quality, open-access, peer-reviewed journals
• Covers all subjects and many languages
• Free to use

DOAJ is one of the most popular open access repositories that offers peer-reviewed, open-access journals across numerous subjects and languages. More than just a tool, DOAJ symbolizes the collaborative ethos of academia, fostering a global exchange of knowledge with no entry ticket.

What are the benefits of DOAJ?

• High Quality: Ensures all listed journals are peer-reviewed for quality assurance
• Wide Range: Features journals covering numerous subjects and languages
• Free Access: No cost attached to access these resources

The DOAJ, in its essence, manifests the democratic spirit of academic research. It’s an indispensable platform for researchers seeking high-quality, peer-reviewed, open-access resources across a wide range of subjects.

Source: https://doaj.org

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#5. Open Access Button – Best for Free Versions of Paywalled Articles

• Finds legal free versions of paywalled articles
• Fast, simple, and reliable
• Free and respects copyright laws

Just like the rush of adrenaline you feel when you find a forgotten $20 bill in your old jeans, Open Access Button brings the same excitement to the academic sphere. 

It is your trusty detective, sniffing out legal, freely accessible versions of those pesky paywalled articles. More than just a tool, it represents an ethical, innovative solution to the widespread issue of paywall barricades in academic research.

What are the benefits of Open Access Button?

• Legal & Free Access: Hunts for legal, open versions of paywalled research papers
• User-friendly: Easy to use with swift results
• Ethical: Respects and upholds copyright laws

Open Access Button serves as the ethical bridge between knowledge seekers and the scholarly content they need. Its commitment to providing free, legal access upholds the values of respect and fairness in academia.

Source: https://openaccessbutton.org

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#6. Science Open – Best for a Wide Variety of Open Access Scientific Research

• Features over 60 million articles
• Facilitates academic networking and discussion
• Free and comprehensive

Consider Science Open as a bustling town square in the city of scientific knowledge, where scholars from all walks of life gather, discuss, and dissect over 60 million articles. 

It’s not just like the best university libraries, it’s a collaborative arena for scientists, researchers, and curious minds alike. By fostering open discussions and peer reviews, it not only disseminates information but also nourishes a robust, global scientific community.

What are the benefits of Science Open?

• Vast Library: Provides access to over 60 million research items
• Collaborative Platform: Encourages networking, discussion, and public peer review
• Comprehensive: Covers a wide array of scientific disciplines

Science Open is more than a tool; it’s a community fostering open scientific discourse. Its vast resources and collaborative platform make it a vital player in modern scientific research.

Source: https://www.scienceopen.com

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#7. CORE – Best for Open Access Content Across Disciplines

• Harvests research papers from repositories worldwide
• Features millions of open access articles

CORE is like a skilled artisan, meticulously crafting a vast tapestry of open-access content across various disciplines. By aggregating data from repositories worldwide, it weaves together a rich, comprehensive picture of global research. 

This tool doesn’t merely provide access; it delivers an integrated research experience that pushes the frontiers of academia and knowledge exploration.

What are the benefits of CORE?

• Wide Coverage: Harvests data from global repositories, providing extensive coverage
• Open Access: Features millions of open access research papers
• User-friendly: Simple, efficient interface for seamless navigation

With its unparalleled aggregation and comprehensive access, CORE embodies the grand orchestra of global research. It stands as an essential tool in the modern researcher’s toolkit.

Source: https://core.ac.uk

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#8. ERIC – Best for Education Research

• Specialized in education research literature
• Offers a wide range of resources, including articles, reports, and studies
• Free and tailored for educators and researchers

Like an esteemed professor, ERIC curates and presents a wealth of scholarly resources for educators, policymakers, and researchers. It serves as a guiding light, illuminating the path to evidence-based practices and enriching the field of education.

What are the benefits of ERIC?

• Focus on Education: Offers a specialized collection of education research literature
• Comprehensive Resources: Includes articles, reports, studies, and more
• Tailored for Educators: Provides valuable insights and tools specifically for educators and researchers

ERIC stands as a pillar in the realm of education research, equipping educators with the knowledge and evidence they need to drive innovation and improve educational practices.

Source: https://eric.ed.gov

#9. PaperPanda – Best for Free Access to Research Papers

• Provides free access to research papers across multiple disciplines
• Offers convenient search and download options
• Free and user-friendly

PaperPanda is always there to assist you in your quest for knowledge. With its vast collection of research papers spanning various disciplines, PaperPanda ensures that you have the resources you need right at your fingertips. 

It’s like having a personal research assistant, guiding you through the maze of scholarly literature.

What are the benefits of PaperPanda?

• Wide Range of Disciplines: Offers research papers across multiple fields of study
• Easy Search and Download: Provides convenient search and download options
• User-Friendly Interface: Makes the research process smooth and accessible

PaperPanda, with its user-friendly approach and expansive collection, simplifies the journey of accessing research papers. It empowers researchers and knowledge enthusiasts by putting a world of information within reach.

Source: https://paperpanda.app

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#10. Citationsy Archives – Best for Research Papers from Numerous Fields

• Curates a vast collection of research papers
• Offers easy-to-use citation and bibliography management tools

As you navigate through the vast corridors of this digital library, you’ll discover a wealth of academic resources from diverse fields. 

Citationsy Archives provides access to valuable research papers. It also equips you with powerful citation and bibliography management tools, ensuring that your scholarly journey remains organized and efficient.

What are the benefits of Citationsy?

• Extensive Collection: Curates a wide variety of research papers from numerous fields
• Citation Management: Offers user-friendly tools for organizing citations and creating bibliographies
• Comprehensive Support: Helps researchers streamline their academic workflow

Citationsy Archives serves as a haven for researchers seeking a comprehensive collection of research papers. Its integrated citation and bibliography management tools make it an indispensable companion in the scholarly pursuit.

Source: https://citationsy.com

#11. OA.mg – Best for Direct Download Links to Open Access Papers

• Provides direct download links to open access papers
• Offers a straightforward, no-frills interface

OA.mg presents a no-nonsense approach to providing direct download links to scholarly articles, ensuring that you have immediate access to the knowledge you seek. With its simplicity and efficiency, OA.mg streamlines the process of finding and accessing open access papers.

What are the benefits of OA.mg?

• Direct Download Links: Offers quick access to open access papers without unnecessary hurdles
• Simplicity: Features a straightforward interface for effortless navigation
• Efficient Access: Saves time by bypassing intermediary steps in accessing research papers

OA.mg stands as a reliable conduit between knowledge seekers and open access papers. Its focus on direct download links enhances the efficiency of accessing scholarly resources.

Source: https://oa.mg

#12. Social Science Research Network (SSRN) – Best for Social Sciences and Humanities Research

• Specializes in social sciences and humanities research
• Hosts a vast collection of scholarly papers, working papers, and preprints
• Free and tailored for researchers in these fields

This digital haven caters to the intellectual curiosity of scholars in these fields, providing access to a wealth of scholarly papers, working papers, and preprints.

SSRN fosters collaboration and knowledge-sharing, creating a vibrant community at the forefront of social sciences and humanities research.

What are the benefits of SSRN?

• Specialized Content: Focuses on social sciences and humanities research
• Diverse Collection: Offers scholarly papers, working papers, and preprints
• Research Community: Facilitates collaboration and knowledge-sharing among researchers

SSRN serves as an invaluable resource for researchers in the social sciences and humanities, fostering a community that drives innovation and advancements in these fields.

Source: https://www.ssrn.com

#13. Project Gutenberg – Best for Free Access to eBooks

• Houses a vast collection of free eBooks
• Covers a wide range of subjects and genres
• Free and easily accessible

Project Gutenberg is a paradise for book lovers and knowledge enthusiasts. This impressive collection of free eBooks spans various subjects and genres, from classic literature to scientific works. 

Project Gutenberg opens the doors to a world of literary exploration, providing access to timeless wisdom and captivating stories that shape our intellectual landscape.

What are the benefits of Project Gutenberg?

• Extensive eBook Collection: Offers a vast selection of free eBooks
• Diverse Subjects and Genres: Covers a wide range of topics and literary genres
• Free and Accessible: Provides easy access to literary works without any cost

Project Gutenberg serves as a testament to the power of literature and the accessibility of knowledge. It enables readers worldwide to embark on intellectual journeys through its extensive collection of free eBooks.

Source: https://www.gutenberg.org

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#14. PLOS (Public Library of Science) – Best for Open Access to Scientific and Medical Research

• Publishes open access scientific and medical research
• Features high-quality, peer-reviewed articles
• Free and promotes global scientific collaboration

As a leading publisher of open access research, PLOS fosters the dissemination of cutting-edge scientific discoveries to a global audience. 

With a commitment to quality and peer-reviewed excellence, PLOS supports the collaborative spirit of scientific advancement, empowering researchers and scientists to share their findings freely.

What are the benefits of PLOS?

• Open Access Publications: Provides free access to high-quality scientific and medical research
• Peer-Reviewed Excellence: Ensures rigorous peer review for published articles
• Global Scientific Collaboration: Facilitates knowledge sharing and collaboration among researchers worldwide

PLOS stands at the forefront of the open access movement, promoting the free flow of scientific and medical knowledge. It represents the spirit of collaboration and transparency, empowering researchers to push the boundaries of human understanding.

Source: https://plos.org

#15. arXiv.org – Best for Preprints in Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science

• Specializes in hosting preprints in science, mathematics, and computer science
• Provides early access to cutting-edge research
• Free and fosters collaboration among researchers

arXiv.org is the epicenter of preprints in science, mathematics, and computer science. This virtual haven serves as an incubator for innovative ideas, granting researchers early access to the latest findings and nurturing collaboration within these rapidly evolving disciplines.

What are the benefits of arXiv?

• Cutting-Edge Research: Provides access to preprints, allowing early exploration of groundbreaking ideas
• Interdisciplinary Reach: Spans science, mathematics, and computer science, fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration
• Global Knowledge Exchange: Encourages the sharing of research findings and facilitates collaboration among researchers worldwide

arXiv.org stands as a catalyst for scientific progress, offering a glimpse into the future of research. By providing early access to preprints, it fuels innovation, collaboration, and the acceleration of knowledge in science, mathematics, and computer science.

Source: https://arxiv.org

In a world where knowledge is king, accessing a research paper shouldn’t feel like an impossible task. Thanks to these free and innovative websites, we can escape the barriers of paywalls and dive into a vast ocean of intellectual wealth. 

From the rebellious spirit of Sci-Hub to the collaborative nature of PLOS, these digital champions are reshaping the academic landscape.

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14 Websites to Download Research Paper for Free – 2024

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Table of contents

2. z-library, 3. library genesis, 4. unpaywall, 5. gettheresearch.org, 6. directory of open access journals (doaj), 7. researcher, 8. science open, 10. internet archive scholar, 11. citationsy archives, 13. dimensions, 14. paperpanda – download research papers for free.

Collecting and reading relevant research articles to one’s research areas is important for PhD scholars. However, for any research scholar, downloading a research paper is one of the most difficult tasks. You must pay for access to high-quality research materials or subscribe to the journal or publication. In this article, ilovephd lists the top 14 websites to download free research papers, journals, books, datasets, patents, and conference proceedings downloads.

Download Research Paper for Free – 2024

14 best free websites to download research papers are listed below:

Sci-Hub is a website link with over 64.5 million academic papers and articles available for direct download. It bypasses publisher paywalls by allowing access through educational institution proxies.  To download papers Sci-Hub  stores papers in its repository, this storage is called Library Genesis (LibGen) or library genesis proxy 2024.

Visit: Working Sci-Hub Proxy Links – 2024

Z-Library is a clone of Library Genesis, a shadow library project that allows users to share scholarly journal articles, academic texts, and general-interest books via file sharing (some of which are pirated). The majority of its books come from Library Genesis, however, some are posted directly to the site by individuals.

Individuals can also donate to the website’s repository to make literature more widely available. Z-library claims to have more than  10,139,382 Books  and  84,837,646 Articles  articles as of April 25, 2024.

It promises to be “the world’s largest e-book library” as well as “the world’s largest scientific papers repository,” according to the project’s page for academic publications (at booksc.org). Z-library also describes itself as a donation-based non-profit organization.

Visit: Z-Library – You can Download 70,000,000+ scientific articles for free

The Library Genesis aggregator is a community aiming at collecting and cataloging item descriptions for the most part of scientific, scientific, and technical directions, as well as file metadata. In addition to the descriptions, the aggregator contains only links to third-party resources hosted by users. All information posted on the website is collected from publicly available public Internet resources and is intended solely for informational purposes.

Visit: libgen.li

Unpaywall harvests Open Access content from over 50,000 publishers and repositories, and makes it easy to find, track, and use. It is integrated into thousands of library systems, search platforms, and other information products worldwide. In fact, if you’re involved in scholarly communication, there’s a good chance you’ve already used Unpaywall data.

Unpaywall is run by OurResearch, a nonprofit dedicated to making scholarships more accessible to everyone. Open is our passion. So it’s only natural our source code is open, too.

Visit: unpaywall.org

GetTheResearch.org is an  Artificial Intelligence(AI)  powered search engine for search and understand  scientific articles  for researchers and scientists. It was developed as a part of the  Unpaywall  project. Unpaywall is a database of 23,329,737 free scholarly Open Access(OA) articles from over 50,000 publishers and repositories, and make it easy to find, track, and use.

Visit: Find and Understand 25 Million Peer-Reviewed Research Papers for Free

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) was launched in 2003 with 300 open-access journals. Today, this independent index contains almost 17 500 peer-reviewed, open-access journals covering all areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Open-access journals from all countries and in all languages are accepted for indexing.

DOAJ is financially supported by many libraries, publishers, and other like-minded organizations. Supporting DOAJ demonstrates a firm commitment to open access and the infrastructure that supports it.

Visit: doaj.org

The researcher is a free journal-finding mobile application that helps you to read new journal papers every day that are relevant to your research. It is the most popular mobile application used by more than 3 million scientists and researchers to keep themselves updated with the latest academic literature.

Visit: 10 Best Apps for Graduate Students 

ScienceOpen  is a discovery platform with interactive features for scholars to enhance their research in the open, make an impact, and receive credit for it. It provides context-building services for publishers, to bring researchers closer to the content than ever before. These advanced search and discovery functions, combined with post-publication peer review, recommendation, social sharing, and collection-building features make  ScienceOpen  the only research platform you’ll ever need.

Visit: scienceopen.com

OA.mg is a search engine for academic papers. Whether you are looking for a specific paper, or for research from a field, or all of an author’s works – OA.mg is the place to find it.

Visit: oa.mg

Internet Archive Scholar (IAS) is a full-text search index that includes over 25 million research articles and other scholarly documents preserved in the Internet Archive. The collection spans from digitized copies of eighteenth-century journals through the latest Open Access conference proceedings and pre-prints crawled from the World Wide Web.

Visit: Sci hub Alternative – Internet Archive Scholar

Citationsy was founded in 2017 after the reference manager Cenk was using at the time, RefMe, was shut down. It was immediately obvious that the reason people loved RefMe — a clean interface, speed, no ads, simplicity of use — did not apply to CiteThisForMe. It turned out to be easier than anticipated to get a rough prototype up.

Visit: citationsy.com

CORE is the world’s largest aggregator of open-access research papers from repositories and journals. It is a not-for-profit service dedicated to the open-access mission. We serve the global network of repositories and journals by increasing the discoverability and reuse of open-access content.

It provides solutions for content management, discovery, and scalable machine access to research. Our services support a wide range of stakeholders, specifically researchers, the general public, academic institutions, developers, funders, and companies from a diverse range of sectors including but not limited to innovators, AI technology companies, digital library solutions, and pharma.

Visit: core.ac.uk

Dimensions cover millions of research publications connected by more than 1.6 billion citations, supporting grants, datasets, clinical trials, patents, and policy documents.

Dimensions is the most comprehensive research grants database that links grants to millions of resulting publications, clinical trials, and patents. It

provides up-to-the-minute online attention data via Altmetric, showing you how often publications and clinical trials are discussed around the world. 226m Altmetric mentions with 17m links to publications.

Dimensions include datasets from repositories such as Figshare, Dryad, Zenodo, Pangaea, and many more. It hosts millions of patents with links to other citing patents as well as to publications and supporting grants.

Visit: dimensions.ai

PaperPanda is a Chrome extension that uses some clever logic and the Panda’s detective skills to find you the research paper PDFs you need. Essentially, when you activate PaperPanda it finds the DOI of the paper from the current page, and then goes and searches for it. It starts by querying various Open Access repositories like OpenAccessButton, OaDoi, SemanticScholar, Core, ArXiV, and the Internet Archive. You can also set your university library’s domain in the settings (this feature is in the works and coming soon). PaperPanda will then automatically search for the paper through your library. You can also set a different custom domain in the settings.

Visit: PaperPanda

I hope, this article will help you to know some of the best websites to download research papers and journals for free.

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We fight inequality in knowledge access across the world. The scientific knowledge should be available for every person regardless of their income, social status, geographical location and etc.

Our mission is to remove any barrier which impeding the widest possible distribution of knowledge in human society!

We advocate for cancellation of intellectual property , or copyright laws, for scientific and educational resources.

Copyright laws render the operation of most online libraries illegal. Hence many people are deprived from knowledge, while at the same time allowing rightholders to have a huge benefits from this. The copyright fosters increase of both informational and economical inequality.

The Sci-Hub project supports Open Access movement in science. Research should be published in open access, i.e. be free to read.

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• 15 April 2024
• Correction 22 April 2024

Revealed: the ten research papers that policy documents cite most

• Dalmeet Singh Chawla 0

Dalmeet Singh Chawla is a freelance science journalist based in London.

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Policymakers often work behind closed doors — but the documents they produce offer clues about the research that influences them. Credit: Stefan Rousseau/Getty

When David Autor co-wrote a paper on how computerization affects job skill demands more than 20 years ago, a journal took 18 months to consider it — only to reject it after review. He went on to submit it to The Quarterly Journal of Economics , which eventually published the work 1 in November 2003.

Autor’s paper is now the third most cited in policy documents worldwide, according to an analysis of data provided exclusively to Nature . It has accumulated around 1,100 citations in policy documents, show figures from the London-based firm Overton (see ‘The most-cited papers in policy’), which maintains a database of more than 12 million policy documents, think-tank papers, white papers and guidelines.

“I thought it was destined to be quite an obscure paper,” recalls Autor, a public-policy scholar and economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. “I’m excited that a lot of people are citing it.”

The most-cited papers in policy

Economics papers dominate the top ten papers that policy documents reference most.

Data from Overton as of 15 April 2024

The top ten most cited papers in policy documents are dominated by economics research; the number one most referenced study has around 1,300 citations. When economics studies are excluded, a 1997 Nature paper 2 about Earth’s ecosystem services and natural capital is second on the list, with more than 900 policy citations. The paper has also garnered more than 32,000 references from other studies, according to Google Scholar. Other highly cited non-economics studies include works on planetary boundaries, sustainable foods and the future of employment (see ‘Most-cited papers — excluding economics research’).

These lists provide insight into the types of research that politicians pay attention to, but policy citations don’t necessarily imply impact or influence, and Overton’s database has a bias towards documents published in English.

Interdisciplinary impact

Overton usually charges a licence fee to access its citation data. But last year, the firm worked with the publisher Sage to release a free web-based tool , based in Thousand Oaks, California, that allows any researcher to find out how many times policy documents have cited their papers or mention their names. Overton and Sage said they created the tool, called Sage Policy Profiles, to help researchers to demonstrate the impact or influence their work might be having on policy. This can be useful for researchers during promotion or tenure interviews and in grant applications.

Autor thinks his study stands out because his paper was different from what other economists were writing at the time. It suggested that ‘middle-skill’ work, typically done in offices or factories by people who haven’t attended university, was going to be largely automated, leaving workers with either highly skilled jobs or manual work. “It has stood the test of time,” he says, “and it got people to focus on what I think is the right problem.” That topic is just as relevant today, Autor says, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence.

Most-cited papers — excluding economics research

When economics studies are excluded, the research papers that policy documents most commonly reference cover topics including climate change and nutrition.

Walter Willett, an epidemiologist and food scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, thinks that interdisciplinary teams are most likely to gain a lot of policy citations. He co-authored a paper on the list of most cited non-economics studies: a 2019 work 3 that was part of a Lancet commission to investigate how to feed the global population a healthy and environmentally sustainable diet by 2050 and has accumulated more than 600 policy citations.

“I think it had an impact because it was clearly a multidisciplinary effort,” says Willett. The work was co-authored by 37 scientists from 17 countries. The team included researchers from disciplines including food science, health metrics, climate change, ecology and evolution and bioethics. “None of us could have done this on our own. It really did require working with people outside our fields.”

Sverker Sörlin, an environmental historian at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, agrees that papers with a diverse set of authors often attract more policy citations. “It’s the combined effect that is often the key to getting more influence,” he says.

Has your research influenced policy? Use this free tool to check

Sörlin co-authored two papers in the list of top ten non-economics papers. One of those is a 2015 Science paper 4 on planetary boundaries — a concept defining the environmental limits in which humanity can develop and thrive — which has attracted more than 750 policy citations. Sörlin thinks one reason it has been popular is that it’s a sequel to a 2009 Nature paper 5 he co-authored on the same topic, which has been cited by policy documents 575 times.

Although policy citations don’t necessarily imply influence, Willett has seen evidence that his paper is prompting changes in policy. He points to Denmark as an example, noting that the nation is reformatting its dietary guidelines in line with the study’s recommendations. “I certainly can’t say that this document is the only thing that’s changing their guidelines,” he says. But “this gave it the support and credibility that allowed them to go forward”.

Broad brush

Peter Gluckman, who was the chief science adviser to the prime minister of New Zealand between 2009 and 2018, is not surprised by the lists. He expects policymakers to refer to broad-brush papers rather than those reporting on incremental advances in a field.

Gluckman, a paediatrician and biomedical scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, notes that it’s important to consider the context in which papers are being cited, because studies reporting controversial findings sometimes attract many citations. He also warns that the list is probably not comprehensive: many policy papers are not easily accessible to tools such as Overton, which uses text mining to compile data, and so will not be included in the database.

The top 100 papers

“The thing that worries me most is the age of the papers that are involved,” Gluckman says. “Does that tell us something about just the way the analysis is done or that relatively few papers get heavily used in policymaking?”

Gluckman says it’s strange that some recent work on climate change, food security, social cohesion and similar areas hasn’t made it to the non-economics list. “Maybe it’s just because they’re not being referred to,” he says, or perhaps that work is cited, in turn, in the broad-scope papers that are most heavily referenced in policy documents.

As for Sage Policy Profiles, Gluckman says it’s always useful to get an idea of which studies are attracting attention from policymakers, but he notes that studies often take years to influence policy. “Yet the average academic is trying to make a claim here and now that their current work is having an impact,” he adds. “So there’s a disconnect there.”

Willett thinks policy citations are probably more important than scholarly citations in other papers. “In the end, we don’t want this to just sit on an academic shelf.”

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00660-1

Updates & Corrections

Correction 22 April 2024 : The original version of this story credited Sage, rather than Overton, as the source of the policy papers’ citation data. Sage’s location has also been updated.

Autor, D. H., Levy, F. & Murnane, R. J. Q. J. Econ. 118 , 1279–1333 (2003).

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Costanza, R. et al. Nature 387 , 253–260 (1997).

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Steffen, W. et al. Science 347 , 1259855 (2015).

Rockström, J. et al. Nature 461 , 472–475 (2009).

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