Question 1

How do I search for research papers for free?

Accepted Answer

Ocean of Papers lets you search over 250 million research papers for free across OpenAlex, PubMed, arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, and Europe PMC. Simply enter your topic in the search bar and browse results instantly — no login required.

Question 2

How do I download research papers as PDFs?

Accepted Answer

Ocean of Papers uses Unpaywall to automatically find free, legal PDF downloads for over 50 million open-access papers. Click the PDF button on any search result to open or download the paper directly.

Question 3

What databases does Ocean of Papers search?

Accepted Answer

Ocean of Papers searches OpenAlex (250M+ papers), PubMed (35M+ biomedical papers), arXiv (2M+ preprints in physics, math, and CS), bioRxiv and medRxiv (biology and medicine preprints), and Europe PMC.

Question 4

Can I export search results to Zotero or a spreadsheet?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Ocean of Papers lets you select multiple papers and export them as a CSV or JSON file, or copy identifiers (DOIs) for direct import into Zotero, Mendeley, or other reference managers.