As one of four programmes under the Research4Life umbrella, AGORA provides access to research in the developing world. Set up by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the UN, its digital library holds over 6000 key journals and 5,000 books on food, agriculture, environmental science and social sciences. This pool of invaluable resources is available in over 2,9000 institutions in 100 low-middle income countries, and it continues to enhance the scholarship of its users.

However, to register with AGORA you’ll need to know if your institution is eligible - not all countries and institutions are. You’ll also need to be registered with FAO.  

Is my institution eligible to use AGORA?

A quick glance at AGORA’s eligibility overview may seem complicated. Put simply, your institution’s eligibility depends on four key factors related to your country’s wealth (see criteria) and consequently whether it falls as a group A or a Group B country.

Institutions from Group A countries can access all of AGORA’s content, for free.

Group B countries pay a low cost – USD $1500 per calendar year for access. However, if your institution is in a Group B country and chooses not to or can’t pay the fee, you’ll still have access to certain resources for free. More about those, here.

My institution is a teaching hospital – is that eligible?

Yes. The following entities can register with Research4Life's four core programmes (AGORA, HINARI, OARE, ARDI):

National universities, professional schools (medicine, agriculture, pharmacy, public health, engineering, etc), research institutes, teaching hospitals and healthcare centers, government offices, national libraries, agricultural extension centers and local non-governmental organizations.

Where and how do I register?

You register for AGORA through its parent programme, Research4Life – here’s the online form.

Once registered you’ll receive login credentials that are valid for your institution. R4L asks that you don’t share these credentials outside of your institution, but otherwise you can start accessing AGORA’s content, anytime, from anywhere.

During the registration process, if your country isn’t listed it means it’s not eligible for Research4Life programmes. Before completing the form you’ll also need to check whether your university is in the list of registered universities and professional schools.

Summon

We recently blogged about AGORA’s quick and easy search-engine, Summon. In order to fully access content and certain links on here you’ll need to be registered with AGORA first.