Research Guides: Open Access Literature Resources for International Agricultural Researchers: Getting Started

Open Access Literature Resources for International Agricultural Researchers

This guide provides links to key resources and search tools for open access (OA) literature which are useful to international agricultural researchers who are no longer affiliated with UC Davis.

Please note:

Comprehensive searching in Agriculture requires consulting a variety of resources which are listed in the various resources sections below. Since agriculture is comprised of many distinct areas, you may also wish to explore Related Subject Guides.

Key Search Tools

Please note that most resources throughout this guide require searching in English language even if the coverage of publications is international.

AGRICOLA - Free version from NAL (U.S. National Agricultural Library)
The new FREE AGRICOLA (AGRICultural OnLine Access, NAL Catalog) + PubAg + NALDC (Natl Agricultural Library Digital Collections) are now searchable together as of January 2023. You may still search PubAg separately (see the next link in this section).

This free access version of the AGRICOLA bibliographic database “consists of two subsets of records. The first contains citations for journal articles that include abstracts. The second consists of bibliographic records describing monographs, serials, audiovisual materials and online content from around the world. AGRICOLA includes but is not limited to resources available in the library. The database contains 5,200,000+ records and includes printed works from as far back as the 15th century. AGRICOLA records describe publications and resources encompassing all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines, including animal and veterinary sciences, entomology, plant sciences, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries, farming and farming systems, agricultural economics, extension and education, food and human nutrition, and earth and environmental sciences.”

PubAg This link opens in a new window
Contains more than 1.46 million citations to literature from across core areas of agricultural science, including 42,000 full-text articles authored by USDA researchers. Produced by the National Agricultural Library (NAL), a part of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
[Coverage: 1997-present]
AGRIS - International System for Agricultural Science and Technology This link opens in a new window
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations maintains an international information system for the agricultural sciences and technology that produces the AGRIS and CARIS databases. AGRIS indexes world literature collected from AGRIS resource centers in over 100 countries worldwide. AGRIS covers all aspects of agricultural sciences and technology, including grey literature not available through normal publication and distribution channels, such as unpublished scientific and technical reports, theses, conference papers and government publications. AGRIS indexes FAO sales publications and documents, including main documents and project reports. Use the Search Assistant for advanced searching by filed (title, author, etc.) and by date.
[Coverage: 1975-present]