Accessing Research Behind A Paywall

One of the main tasks we have on our journey of becoming a Cancer Thriver is to learn as much as possible about our cancer and its treatment possibilities. An essential aspect of learning about our cancer involves our staying up to date and informed about current research findings. Unfortunately, in all too many situations, new research is hidden behind paywalls, or you will be required to pay for either a specific article or a Journal.

We understand the economics of publishing a journal; it costs money. However, we also believe that it's absurd that we should be required to pay a second time to have access to research which we already funded with our tax dollars.

The time has come for creating a system where the research that we have already paid for with our tax dollars is freely available at no additional cost. Having the complete free dissemination of healthcare treatment knowledge that has been developed by public funding should be considered as a best practice or the standard of care. 

Having complete and accurate knowledge makes us better caregivers, patients, and advocates. Not having the information makes us less than we should be, makes us die younger than we need to, and suffer more from side effects.

The time has come to change this unfair and unbalanced system. However, until our world becomes more enlightened, we will need to resort to some workarounds. A word of caution, these workarounds might not be legal as they might be violating copyright rules. So, we must be clear; Cancer ABCs does not advocate your using any of them. We are publishing this information simply because we believe that under our constitution, we have the right. 

We are aware of two websites that you can use to get free research articles. Here is how to do it:

Step 1. Find the research article that is behind a paywall. What you will see is the DOI. The DOI will look something like this - DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1503747

Step 2. Get the DOI and put it into one of these two web sites. booksc.xyz/ or sci-hub.tw/

Step 3. Use the "free research" that you PAID for through your tax dollars. 

If the DOI does not work, copy/paste the entire URL into the search bar on these webpages.

Try the DOI first.

An alternative way to access research that might be behind a paywall and one that does not violate copyright rules and regulations Is by utilizing the interlibrary loan system. This system should be available to most of us in the United States by going to your public library and using this free and quick service. 

All you will need to do is give the librarian the citation, and they do the rest of the work for you.

Another simple, often effective way to unlock some research that is behind a paywall is to contact the corresponding author, who is usually listed on the abstract. Explain who you are and why you want to have free access. More often than not, you will be given access. 

We strongly urge that you utilize the legal ways first. We also need to find ways to change the system so that research which we fund will flow to us without additional costs.