Our journals platform and our books platform provide access to over one million chemical science articles and chapters published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. 

Search published literature

Discover the highest quality integrated scientific research using the advanced search features.

Our article abstracts, supplementary information, and gold open access articles are free to everyone. There are a number of ways you can access the full text of our articles:

  • if you belong to an organisation that has bought institutional access you will be given access either through your IP address or a username and password. Please contact your organisation’s librarian or information specialist if you need more information
  • you can register for a free RSC Publishing personal account. Setting up your account is simple - all we ask is that you provide some basic information, including a valid email address for authentication. When you are logged in you will be able to access all our free content, including the first two volumes of our newest journals, and articles that are part of special free access promotions (eg "hot" papers)
  • you can also gain access to our articles (except Accepted Manuscripts) on a pay-per-view basis. Simply browse our journals or use our search facilities to select your article or chapter and click on the full-text link to go to an intermediate page where you will see the pay-per-view options

Keep up with published literature

Stay informed about the latest research from our journals using custom email alerts, RSS feeds and blogs.

We also publish a range of literature alerting services for researchers in the chemical sciences to keep up-to-date with recently published papers. Researchers can browse the most important organic or catalytic reactions from the last month; view newly discovered natural products or search for specific analytical techniques and analytes. Subscribe to literature alerts in your research area today.

Find chemical data & information

The Merck Index* Online offers highly authoritative information on chemicals, drugs and biologicals in an easy-to-use online database. Search for compounds, chemical and physical properties, and key references or browse different therapeutic categories. This is a highly curated reference source written by trained scientists.

For marine natural products research MarinLit provides a database of compounds, articles, chemical data and dereplication tools. Search bibliographic references for papers, or use exact mass, UV and NMR spectroscopic data to find known compounds. This is a comprehensive and unique resource for marine natural product scientists.

Search hundreds of sources of chemical information on the web through one database: ChemSpider. This free tool allows you to search over 115 million chemical structures and over 250 data sources through one easy-to-use interface. Explore different online resources through ChemSpider, curate the information you find, or add your own data anywhere, anytime.

Additionally, exclusive resources are available for members including access to third-party databases and encyclopaedic chemical information sources through our Virtual Library.

*The name THE MERCK INDEX is owned by Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA and its affiliates, and is licensed to The Royal Society of Chemistry for use in the USA and Canada. Membership of the Royal Society Of Chemistry does not grant access to THE MERCK INDEX Online.

Member access

Our members have free access to resources from our publishing platform:

  • Journals Archive - access our entire journals archive of over 260,000 articles of research published from 1841
  • Members (MRSC) and Fellows (FRSC) get a journal of their choice - email membership to get free access to one journal of your choice.
  • Up to 25 free article downloads - download up to 25 articles or eBook chapters free of charge from our journals platform and our books platform (please note we have no indication of what you have downloaded, ie if you download the same article twice it will count as two of your downloads)
  • Books' discount - shop online and receive a 35% off our books

To view the above journals' content, go to the page, click 'Log in' and then select 'Log in with your member or subscriber username and password'.

  • Historical Collection - access to thousands of items in our Historical Collection spanning 500 years of chemical science; click 'Sign in' to access this subscriber content.

We also have exclusive resources for members, including journals and eBooks hosted by third parties, through our Virtual Library.

Explore the history of chemistry

Browse our Historical Collection; a digital library containing thousands of items covering the development of the chemical sciences from early alchemy into a modern science.

These books, letters, diaries, magazines and minutes - spanning the 16th century to the 21st - are written by leading scientists of their time, and are available free to our members.

Find historical biographical information about chemists & other scientists

Search our Biographical Database of over 5,500 obituaries and historical profiles.  Most of the full-text is available free to members from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal archive.

Resources for members

The Virtual Library provides members with free access to a range of chemical resources from several different publishers.

In addition, the Library in Burlington House, London holds an extensive hardcopy print collection which you can search via the catalogue.

Virtual Library

The Digital Collection (formerly, the Virtual Library) provides members with free access to a range of chemical resources from several different publishers.

To access

  1. Click the 'Digital Collection sign-in' button below
  2. Enter your Membership ID and Password and click 'Log In'
  3. Scroll down the page a little and click the 'Insight and Information' button (second from the left)
  4. Click 'Find out more' in the Digital Collection tab

Problems logging in?

  • Access via the sign-in button only
  • Enter your username as your 6 digit RSC number.  If you have forgotten your ID or password, you can reset them on the Members' area sign-in page
  • Clear the cookies from your browsers’ cache
  • Try using a different browser
  • ScienceDirect requires a separate account that you can request from the Library (accounts expire at the end of each year)
Digital Collection sign-in

EBSCO eBooks

Access to over 100 titles on the chemical sciences, including many on the history of chemistry, and more than 3,000 general interest titles.

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology

Features over 1,300 regularly updated articles on chemical substances: their properties, manufacturing, and uses.

Also includes information on industrial processes and unit operations in chemical engineering, as well as fundamentals and scientific subjects related to the field.  Environmental and health issues concerning chemical technology are also addressed.

Knovel eBooks and Databases

Engineering data resource including eBooks & Databases on a range of related topics.  Other research tools include:

  • Material property search
  • Interactive equations
  • Periodic Table
  • Engineering unit converter

Please Note: Our subscription to this service will be discontinued at the end of 2024.

ScienceDirect eJournals and eBooks

Over 300 eBooks and 18 journal archives (c. 1995 to 2016).  Journal titles include Analytica Chimica Acta, Journal of Chromatography A and Tetrahedron Letters.

Springer eJournals and eBooks

Access to over 400 eBooks and the journal archives of over 100 titles, e.g. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry; Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology; Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine.

Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry

Complete coverage of the science and technology in all areas of industrial chemistry containing over 1,000 major articles by some 3,000 authors.

Journals, books & databases

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