Scholarly Open Access Resources
Discover our comprehensive collection of free, scholarly, and ad-free resources across all academic disciplines. These resources have been reviewed by the Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL) for quality and academic integrity.
All sites listed have been reviewed by Association of College and Research Librarians (ACRL) and are considered scholarly, ad-free, and Open Access.
Art
Digital access to the photographs located in the Art Institute of Chicago.
A peer-reviewed open access e-journal devoted to scholarship of teaching and learning in art history.
A peer-populated platform for art history teachers with lesson plans, video introductions to museums, book reviews, image clusters, and classroom activities.
An online, open access journal encompassing all aspects of art history and visual culture, providing a platform for open exchange of ideas.
An online gallery of over 40 selected artists and their work.
Contains access to digital collections in the visual arts and their various histories.
Digital collection of 250,000 ephemera items.
Digital collections include manuscripts, photographs, maps, and video recordings.
Five decades of Met publications on Art History available in digital format.
Open Access and searchable collection of prints and photographs located at the Library of Congress.
Ephemera: billheads, trade cards, engravings, chromolithographs, postcards, marbled paper, letterpress printing, typography, and African art.
Economics/Business & Finance
Open access to scholarly works in Business Administration, Accounting, Marketing, Technology & Innovation, and other areas of general business.
Hosts over 300,000 datasets from U.S. government agencies, providing public access to data on climate, education, finance, health, science, and more.
Data on wage earner welfare, workplace safety, working conditions, and protection of retirement and health care benefits.
U.S. financial and economic data, including money supply, interest rates, industrial production, and consumer credit.
Business research with reports, data, and rankings from government, international, and NGO sources.
Unified census financial data from 1967 onward with plain-language variable names and updates when new data is available.
Time series data on lending, exchange rates, and other financial indicators, plus guides on statistical practices.
Economic and social statistics for 200+ countries, including over 100 indicators on population, trade, finance, and industry.
Independent nonprofit conducting and publishing unbiased economic research for policymakers, academics, and the public.
Statistical data platform of the OECD, offering economic and social indicators for 36 member countries.
Live access to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Resources and statistics for small business development, including industry-specific information for entrepreneurs.
Tax data by state and country, including rates, exemptions, collections, and total tax burden.
Official global trade statistics and relevant datasets from UN member countries.
UN data on trade, country profiles, fact sheets, and economic statistics.
U.S. GDP, trade, income, savings, and government finance statistics at national, state, and metro levels.
Labor market data on inflation, unemployment, wages, benefits, injuries, and job projections.
Bond rate summaries and monthly updates on key U.S. economic indicators.
Tax data from personal, corporate, nonprofit, and charitable filings.
Global economic datasets, development indicators, and consumption data.
Articles and reports on global economic, scientific, and technological trends from experts worldwide.
Data on global income and wealth distribution, sourced from national accounts, surveys, and rankings.
Articles and analysis on globalization, trade, economics, and international business.
Education
Free online textbooks and OER content with full lesson plans for teachers and students.
Digital collection of children's books from the Library of Congress.
A platform for educators, students, and parents to share educational resources.
Millions of free learning resources for teachers and students.
Scholarly articles on curriculum, assessment, evaluation, and professional development.
Lesson plans and downloadable full-text courses.
Toolkits for building digital courses and educational resources.
Build and share lesson plans and courses with other educators.
ACT Academy's assessments, videos, games, and homework aligned to standards.
Digital educational resources across subjects for teachers and students.
English/Literature
Compare subjects across disciplines with charts and citation assistance.
Online resource for digital poetry collections and materials.
50+ years of cultural programming and literary advocacy content.
News, blogs, and videos related to Poets & Writers.
Research on over 70 controversial issues with balanced pro and con perspectives.
Writing, research, and citation resources for students and professionals.
Health, Medicine, and Physical Education
Database of private and public clinical trials worldwide from the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Movement to make health a national priority through cross-sector collaboration.
Access to over 300,000 U.S. government datasets on health, science, education, and more.
Resources and research on disaster response, health, and preparedness.
UN reports and statistics on global human development.
Scholarly articles on kinesiology, physiology, food science, and nutrition.
Scholarly articles in sports sciences, anatomy, clinical nutrition, and more.
Mayo Clinic resources on diseases, symptoms, procedures, and medications.
CDC image collections on people, places, and science, with public domain and restricted-use materials.
Health statistics on births, diseases, injuries, and more from the CDC.
Global health, nutrition, and human development data.
History
Lesson plans, videos, maps, and primary sources on the Civil War and Revolutionary War, including collections like “Women in War” and “Civil War Music.”
Materials on African American music from post-WWII to present, covering genres from blues to hip hop, plus resources on Black radio.
Publication highlighting African American music and culture.
U.S. Department of Education data on student enrollment, programs, and civil rights issues in public schools.
Digital primary sources and educational materials on the Civil Rights Movement from libraries, archives, and museums.
Revolutionary War maps, maritime charts, and atlases from the Boston Public Library.
Manuscripts, photographs, maps, and videos on American and world history, cultures, and business.
Early American history collections, including papers of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and abolitionists.
Digital collections documenting Mississippi’s history.
Online access to select collections from the Washington, D.C. museum.
Direct access to 14 U.S. Presidential Libraries and America’s founding documents.
Rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and other historical media from the Smithsonian.
Civil Rights Movement timeline from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
1950s–60s radio programs featuring interviews, speeches, and news from the Civil Rights era.
Humanities
Open access scholarly works in art, literature, religion, and other humanities fields.
Over 11 million digital artifacts in art, music, religious manuscripts, maps, and more.
Open access scholarship and teaching resources for the humanities.
Online journal exploring unique works from the history of art, literature, and ideas.
Intellectual community and scholarly works across humanities disciplines.
Digital collections of art, music, photography, and more from Tulane University.
Library of Congress archive of web cultures, including Urban Dictionary and Emojipedia.
Mass Communications
Over 850 interviews with television industry professionals, both on- and off-camera.
Harvard Business School collection exploring advertising’s role in marketing mass-produced products from 1865–1910.
Digital editions of culturally significant modernist magazines from 1890–1922, including full advertising content.
Nonprofit platform to request, share, and analyze government documents for transparency and informed democracy.
Digital collection of Victorian trade cards advertising goods and services in the late 1800s.
The world’s largest archive of U.S. television news, with broadcasts dating back to 1968.
Library of Congress archive of web culture sites, including Urban Dictionary and Emojipedia.
Music
Digital collection of Aaron Copland’s works at the Library of Congress.
Post-WWII African American music, including blues, gospel, R&B, hip hop, and Black radio documentation.
Recordings of music, dance, and spoken word promoting cultural equity through preservation and publication.
Publication highlighting African American music and culture.
Research and programming center for U.S. and global popular and folk music studies.
Home of the Choral Public Domain Library, offering free choral sheet music.
Public domain scores, recordings, and literature, searchable by composer, period, or instrumentation.
Over 29,000 pieces of American popular sheet music from Johns Hopkins University.
Collection of over 22,000 musical works, primarily sheet music, from the University of Maine.
Video tutorials explaining music copyright laws and practices.
Digital archives of the New York Philharmonic, including scores, programs, and recordings.
Political Science
Statistics on crime, law enforcement, corrections, expenditures, and victims, including Uniform Crime Reports.
Searchable database of legal publication abbreviations from over 295 jurisdictions.
Independent, nonpartisan research on the impacts of legal and illegal immigration in the U.S.
Research and resources on the U.S. Constitution in historical context, including the Documentary History project.
Country profiles covering history, government, economy, geography, military, and global issues.
State-level caseload data, court structure details, and organization information.
Nonpartisan advocacy for electoral reforms to expand voter choice and representation.
Campaign finance statistics and data from U.S. federal elections.
Civic tech and open data tools promoting government transparency and public participation.
Free access to U.S. case law, codes, statutes, and regulations.
Open access scholarly works across all fields of law, including civil rights and constitutional law.
Cornell Law School’s free legal resources and reference materials across multiple law areas.
Real-time legislative tracking for all U.S. states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
International norms and standards on human rights, migration, fair trial, and more.
Nonprofit platform for requesting, analyzing, and sharing government documents.
Justice and drug-related research resources for policy, education, and public safety.
State and local prison, probation, parole, and incarceration statistics.
Advocacy and resources on women’s rights issues, with state-by-state information.
Organization combating discrimination against immigrant communities of color.
Tools for tracking legislation in U.S. states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Multimedia archive of U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments and case information.
Coordinates international statistical activities and supports the UN Statistical Commission.
Psychology
Leading nonprofit promoting mental health and supporting those living with mental illness since 1909.
Open access learning materials and teaching resources for psychology from the California State University system.
Information on symptoms, risk factors, and treatment for mental health conditions like depression and bipolar disorder.
Scholarly articles in clinical, social, cognitive, developmental, and behavioral psychology.
Science
Collection management system integrating research-grade data across multiple scientific disciplines.
Open access to over 30,000 documents from Einstein’s written legacy.
NASA’s environmental data and remote sensing images on topics like sea temperatures, ice, and rainfall.
Peer-reviewed summaries of scientific reports on environmental and health topics.
Global resource for plant and fungal knowledge, databases, and research partnerships.
Scholarly works in biology, plant science, biochemistry, and animal science.
Comprehensive archives of oceanic, atmospheric, and geophysical environmental data.
NOAA climate data for U.S. and international locations at multiple time intervals.
Reports and features promoting scientific progress, health, and welfare.
Visual mapping of scientific research, with 70% open access content.
Open access scholarly works in computer science, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and more.
Free access to research articles and information across science and technology disciplines.
U.S. storm statistics including injuries and damage estimates, updated monthly.
Digital access to Newton’s alchemical manuscripts, lab notes, and transcriptions.
National and state energy data on production, consumption, efficiency, and environment.
EPA data on drinking water, air pollution, climate change, and other regulated topics.
Research on public perceptions, attitudes, and policy views related to climate change.
Sociology
Data on worker safety, working conditions, retirement, and health care benefits from U.S. Department of Labor agencies.
Platform for sharing global humanitarian data on crises, affected populations, and response efforts.
Economic and social statistics for 200+ countries, including population, trade, finance, and industry.
Resources and best practices for providers working with child trauma survivors.
Research and visualizations on global trends in health, economy, education, environment, and more.
Open access scholarly works in sociology, communications, psychology, social work, and related fields.
Digital archive of U.S. social welfare and reform history, with curated exhibits and images.
Primary materials from global cultures, including books, maps, photographs, and films.
Global data on historical and current income and wealth distribution within and between countries.
Articles and analysis on globalization and global interdependence from Yale University.
Annual tables on U.S. immigration, including permanent residence, temporary admissions, asylum, and naturalization.
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