Unpaywall is one of the most important resources for open access data and links and has been part of CDI since November 2023. The community has shown great interest in the collection as it supports libraries’ need to access more trusted content freely. The collection is updated twice a week and any updates are reflected after these update cycles.

The open access links, which direct to many different platforms and websites, are dynamic and may not be as stable as subscription links. To mitigate this challenge, the Ex Libris Content Operations team is working closely with Unpaywall to address concerns regarding the accuracy of open access (OA) indications. Efforts so far have focused on OA books, specifically removing OA indications from titles where only the table of contents (TOC) is OA.

In addition, we are working on improving communication between Unpaywall and Ex Libris to ensure that reported issues are resolved quickly on both the CDI side and the Unpaywall side. In some cases, records with accuracy problems may be filtered out on the CDI side before they are also removed from Unpaywall. As a result, API links may still show Unpaywall links while Link in Record links do not.

Since Unpaywall aims to maximize open access availability, it provides links to various OA versions based on what is accessible, including preprint versions of articles. Because Unpaywall records are merged with published version records based on DOI, the Unpaywall open access link may lead to a preprint version of the article.

Reporting directly to Unpaywall at support@unpaywall.org will help improve the accuracy of OA indications and affect both the API and the collection results.

Unpaywall content is available for activation in three databases: Alma, SFX, and 360:

• Unpaywall for CDI (Collection ID: Alma - 615310000000000937; SFX - 5310000000000937; 360 DBID - UNPAY)

• Unpaywall for CDI: Periodical Content (Collection ID: Alma - 61563712280000041; SFX - 563712280000041; 360 DBID - ADTOC)

• Unpaywall for CDI: Monographs Content (Collection ID: Alma - 61563712290000041; SFX - 563712290000041; 360 DBID - ABOKW) (We will change its name.)

The general collection includes all content, along with two content-specific collections for periodicals and monographs. These two collections are designed for customers who wish to activate only specific types of Unpaywall content. Records are assigned to these collections based solely on the content type designations provided by Unpaywall. In some cases, records may appear in CDI with a different content type due to merging with records from other CDI sources.

• Article last edited: 13-FEB-2025