Applied Science Commons is organized by thematic collections—available individually or as a package. Each is editorially curated, continuously updated, and fully integrated with your discovery environment.
Explore our applied science collections
The research records has a gap. Applied Science Commons fills it.
Researchers are citing non-journal sources more than ever before—reports, case studies, technical documents, websites, blogs, and podcasts. Much of this grey literature comes from highly reputable, frontline organizations—government agencies, research institutes, hospitals, industry bodies, and professional consultancies. Yet most of it sits outside mainstream academic discovery services, making it hard to find, difficult to cite, and at risk of disappearing.
At the same time, funders increasingly expect research to demonstrate real-world impact—so researchers are publishing beyond journals, reaching practitioners and policymakers in formats designed for speed.
Applied Science Commons brings this authoritative grey literature into your institution's academic workflow. It’s designed to complement, not duplicate, your existing databases. Where platforms like Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed index the peer-reviewed literature, Applied Science Commons captures what they miss—the reports, case studies, and real-world evidence that increasingly sit alongside journal articles in the citations of serious research.
Every item is fully searchable, assigned a persistent identifier for reliable citing, and preserved for the long term—so your researchers can find it, use it, and trust it will still be there when they need it.
What's included
Content is editorially selected for its relevance to teaching, learning, and research practice, drawing on reputable sources around the world.
Sources—government agencies, research institutes, universities, hospitals, professional associations, think tanks, industry bodies, corporations, and independent consultancies—all with global coverage
Content types—technical reports and case studies, consultant reports and feasibility studies, policy documents and white papers, industry and government publications, community impact assessments, and selected podcasts, blogs, and videos
Highlight collection: Global Technical Reports builds on and substantially expands the near-defunct National Technical Reports Library (NTRL), long operated by the US National Technical Information Service (NTIS).
Where NTRL focused primarily on US government-funded research, Global Technical Reports extends coverage internationally—rescuing and preserving a vital corpus of scientific and technical knowledge that would otherwise be increasingly difficult to access.
Why is it called a Commons?
Because the best knowledge resources are built together, not in isolation.
Applied Science Commons is shaped by the community that uses it. Librarians, researchers, and content owners help us identify valuable material we might otherwise miss—organizations whose reports deserve wider visibility, content at risk of disappearing behind broken links or institutional closures, and collections held by universities or research bodies that are suitable for indexing.
Librarians, if your institution produces research reports or technical publications, ask us about content partnerships. And if you know of a source we should be covering, please let us know
Collaborate on coverage
Suggest sources, flag at-risk content, or explore a content partnership. Contact Toby Green, editor.
Try it with your institution
Free, 30-day institutional trial, with onboarding and training included
Pricing options based on your institution's size—contact us for a tailored quote
Collection packages are available for institutions subscribing to multiple Commons—ask your sales representative about options
Built for libraries
They work together
