Scientific information discovery and access: A bibliographic review

Abstract

This review study is based on original research studies investigating how scientific information is discovered and accessed. The study highlights the role of various platforms, including search engines, databases, repositories, web-scale discovery services, academic social media, and illegal platforms like Sci-Hub in this process. The results indicate that while libraries have implemented discovery services and repositories to increase their role in the discovery and access field, Google and Google Scholar are still the most popular options for discovering scientific information. Additionally, databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed are also used by users, and newer platforms like ResearchGate and Sci-Hub have gained popularity for accessing scientific information