[Eril-l] Wiley "Free to Read" articles going back behind paywalls recently?

[Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list]

Possible reason- "Free to read" is not the same as "free to read, download, and share"?


From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> On Behalf Of Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list via Eril-l
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2026 3:35 PM
To: Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: [Eril-l] Wiley "Free to Read" articles going back behind paywalls recently?

In the last week, a rash of articles have been sent my way through our problem-reporting pipeline involving Wiley articles linked from third party databases like CINAHL or Primo Unpaywall links, in which the third party expects full text access but the user hits a paywall. On checking Unpaywall's article fixer tool, each article comes up indexed as "Free to Read."  In one case a student stated they were able to article access the article in question as recently as last week. So far no response from Wiley.

Have others observed similar, and perhaps have a scoop on what's going on with this Wiley content? It seems like as they were labeled "free to read," not "open access," they may have been in a time-delimited or otherwise revokable free status.

Ben Hockenberry
Head of Library Systems and Subscriptions
Lavery Library, St. John Fisher University

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