Open Access Literature Resources for International Agricultural Researchers

Administered by: Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations

International, multilingual database of papers, data, and statistics on agricultural research and technology produced by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (International System for Agricultural Science and Technology.) Particularly investing in covering beyond peer-reviewed literature including gray literature “including unpublished scientific and technical reports, theses, dissertations and conference papers in the area of food and agriculture.”

Administered by: CAB International

Newer international archive of preprints for agriculture and allied sciences. “agriRxiv (pronounced agri-archive) is an open access preprint service, supporting the dissemination of science and research across all aspects of the agricultural and allied sciences. It gives researchers the opportunity to share scientific discoveries and explore new research to inform agricultural science, policies and practice.”

Administered by: Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)

Program which “enables developing countries to gain access to an outstanding digital library collection in the fields of food, agriculture, environmental science and related social sciences. AGORA provides a collection of up to 6,500 key journals and up to 22,000 books to more than 3,000 institutions in more than 115 countries. AGORA is designed to enhance the scholarship of the many thousands of students, faculty and researchers in agriculture and life sciences in the developing world.”

Administered by: United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

Launched in 2006 and “provides more than 2,900 institutions access to up to 10,000 journals, up to 21,000 e-books, and up to 55 other information resources in a wide range of disciplines contributing to our understanding of the natural environment, including environmental toxicology and pollution, zoology, botany, ecology, environmental chemistry, geology, hydrology, oceanography, meteorology, climatology, geography, environmental economics, environmental law and policy, conservation policy and planning, environmental biotechnology, environmental engineering, energy, and many other disciplines.”

Administered by: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Launched in 2009 and “provides over 900 institutions access to up to 8,000 journals, up to 20,000 e-books, and up to 15 other information resources. By improving access to scholarly literature from diverse fields of science and technology, the ARDI programme is designed to reinforce the knowledge infrastructure in developing and least developed countries and to support researchers in these countries in creating and developing new solutions to technical challenges faced on a local and global level.”

Administered by: World Health Organization (WHO)

Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) was launched in 2002 and “enables low- and middle- income countries to gain access to one of the world’s largest collections of biomedical and health literature. … Up to 21,000 journals, up to 69,000 e-books, up to 115 other information resources are now available to health institutions in more than 125 countries, areas and territories benefiting many thousands of health workers and researchers, and in turn, contributing to improve world health.“

Administered by: World Bank Group

This OA repository has more than “35,077 publications in 11 collections, 595 sub-collections” covering topics of international development, aid and economics. A variety of formats are included such as Annual Reports, Books, Journals and other Serial Publications, Technical papers, Country Strategy documents, Economic and Sector Work (ESW) studies, and Working Papers.