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ReadCube: How do I use ReadCube?

Using ReadCube for quick access to Nature journals and as a citation manager

For quick access to Nature journals

  1. Find the desired journal in the library's e-journals list or in the library catalog. (Note: Not all Nature journals are made available via the ReadCube platform.)journal that's available via readcube
     
  2. Navigate to the desired article on the journal site, and click the button labeled "Vew Enhanced PDF."
    view enhanced pdf button
  3. Click "Sign up/Log in" and either log in with a ReadCube account you have already set up, or create an account. Be sure to use your usu.edu or aggiemail.usu.edu email address.
  4. Choose an access model: 48-hour Rental or Cloud Access—both made available via the ReadCube website or app—or download a full, DRM-free PDF.
    access option buttons
    Read more about each option by clicking them on the download screen. (If these options have prices listed, please verify that the journal is in the list of included titles.)
    Note: The Library will pay behind the scenes, so the article will be free for you. But please note that the three options are listed in order of expense with PDF costing the most, so we encourage you to try the other access options and choose what best suits your needs.
  5. View the article online or using the ReadCube desktop or mobile application. (See section below for more details.)

Using ReadCube as a citation manager

  1. Choose how you will access ReadCube.
    ReadCube Desktop for Mac or Windows
    ReadCube for Apple iOS
    ReadCube for Google Android OS
    The interface and features are very similar across platforms, so you can choose which to use based on your device preference. (Examples below show the desktop app on Windows 8.)
  2. Add files or citations.
    Click the "Import PDF to Library" button.
    import pdf button
    Drag and drop saved PDFs to see citations generate automatically. (If you want ReadCube to save your files in "lists" based on folder names on your desktop, choose "yes" under "Sort Into Lists.")
    drag and drop list menu
    If you want to switch from another citation manager, you can export all your citations into a file then import it into ReadCube. Follow the "Click here for directions" link in the "Add Articles" menu.
    Click the "Create a Reference" button to enter title, author, and other citation metadata manually.
    create a reference button
  3. Get recommendations of articles you may be interested in based on the files saved to your library.
    Click "Recommendations" and choose a specific list that you want related articles for and choose how recently the recommended publications were released.
    recommendations menu
    Choose an article and use the options at the bottom-right to add it to your library.

ReadCube has many other useful features such as easily inserting references and bibliography into Microsoft Word, saving articles from the web using the ReadCube bookmarklet, annotating saved articles, and searching Google Scholar and PubMed directly in ReadCube. Go to ReadCube's "bootcamp" site to view brief instructional videos.