6 Best Websites to Find Free College Textbooks in 2023 - Gradehacker (2023)

FAQs

6 Best Websites to Find Free College Textbooks in 2023 - Gradehacker? ›

OpenStax offers textbooks online for students of colleges and high schools. Deeply loved by many students, this non-profit digital learning platform and publisher of free textbooks was founded in 2011 by Rice University. It offers a range of peer-reviewed texts from the top universities in the U.S.

OpenStax offers textbooks online for students of colleges and high schools. Deeply loved by many students, this non-profit digital learning platform and publisher of free textbooks was founded in 2011 by Rice University. It offers a range of peer-reviewed texts from the top universities in the U.S.

Zooqle – https://zooqle.com/browse/books-texts/ Zooqle is a torrent file depository that includes all kinds of files, including textbooks. The website includes over 4 million authentic torrents, with thousands of new ones being added each day.

Downloading textbooks infringes on their copyright

A textbook is just like a copyrighted song or movie that is illegally downloaded online. That's to say, downloading a textbook infringes on its copyright protection by duplicating and distributing it online without the creator's permission.

The site was first launched in 2009 and saw a surge in popularity last year thanks to social media sites such as TikTok. However, Z-Library was taken down last November after its domain names were seized by US authorities.

Is PDF Drive Safe? PDF Drive is generally safe in the sense that most users don't run into any problems on the site. However, it's better to err on the side of caution. PDF Drive is a publicly curated database – that means that most of the titles are sourced from users themselves.

Libgen is safer than your typical torrent sites because it has a direct download option instead of just torrenting (but if you do accidentally use the torrenting option, you're open to viruses and malware that may be included with the file). However, that doesn't mean that it's without risks.

Here are several sites that provide legal access to download free textbooks in PDF format: Free-Ebooks. Net, OpenStax, Open Textbook Library, LibreTexts, and Saylor Academy.

What website gives free textbook answers? ›

StudySmarter provides expert verified solutions and high-quality explanations for thousands of textbooks completely for free.

Copyright infringement, which textbook piracy falls under, is illegal and can result in fines ranging from $750 to $30,000, according to 17 U.S. Code 504.

In 2010, around 20 percent of students surveyed by the Book Industry Study Group reported illegally downloading course content. Today that number has risen to 34 percent. Over the same period of time, the amount of students who admitted to photocopying or scanning textbooks rose from 21 percent to 31 percent.

The illegal distribution of copyrighted material is a crime of theft. In the United States and many other countries, copyright law provides for severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of copyrighted material.

The organization describes itself as "the world's largest e-book library", as well as "the world's largest scientific articles store", and operates as a non-profit organization sustained by donations. The Z-Library project and its activities are considered illegal in many jurisdictions.

A great deal of copyrighted material is placed on the Internet with the permission of the author so that it can be viewed and downloaded for free. Some copyrighted material on the Internet may be pirated or made available for download without the author's consent, and this can lead to legal liability.

Shadow libraries are intrinsically prohibited by copyright law. Z-Library is an illegal website as a result. Despite having noble intentions, they distribute works that are not permitted by law.

Z-Library was one of the internet's largest sources of pirated e-books. It was recently seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation following a series of legal complaints made by The Author's Guild, an organization of more than 12,000 members committed to supporting working writers.

Why is Z-Library illegal? ›

The law of copyrights is inherently opposed to shadow libraries. As a result, Z-Library is an illegal website. Though their intentions are good, they make works available that are not legally authorized.

“The defendants profited illegally off work they stole, often uploading works within mere hours of publication, and in the process victimized authors, publishers and booksellers,” said Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in the first official statement released since the Nov.

Unless it's from a trusted retailer, some ebooks may contain malicious software that can install malware, spyware, and viruses in your computer. Do not distribute ebooks unless the company or author allows it. Distributing copyrighted material is piracy, a punishable offense.

Google Play Books

Google Play Books is your one-stop store for textbooks, books, and audiobooks.

libgen.is's top 5 competitors in April 2023 are: researchgate.net, sci-hub.se, archive.org, semanticscholar.org, and more.

In late October 2015, the District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Libgen to shut down and to suspend use of the domain name (libgen.org), but the site is accessible through alternate domains.

The other five competitors in the top 10 list are sci-hub.se (13.7M visits in April 2023), semanticscholar.org (8.9M visits in April 2023), z-lib.org (1.5M visits in April 2023), perlego.com (4.2M visits in April 2023), and quillbot.com (68.8M visits in April 2023).

Wikibooks (previously called Wikimedia Free Textbook Project and Wikimedia-Textbooks) is a wiki-based Wikimedia project hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation for the creation of free content digital textbooks and annotated texts that anyone can edit.

How to get free college textbooks reddit? ›

Socratic can help! This learning app, powered by Google AI, helps you understand your school work at a high school and university level. Ask Socratic a question and the app will find the best online resources for you to learn the concepts.

Project Gutenberg is a library of over 70,000 free eBooks

Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online. You will find the world's great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired.

To get full access to all the tools, you'll need a Premium Chegg study subscription for $19.95 per month. You can also subscribe for Homework Help by itself for $14.95 per month. Chegg Writing service costs $9.95 per month (individually).

Textbook Solutions is a place to check your homework: search the book by an ISBN, browse by a chapter, and see if you got your answers right. Students can also use the Expert Q&A section to ask a question not covered in the textbooks. Experts take an average of 46 minutes to answer.

Quizlet offers a selection of free textbook solutions so that you can sample the product quality and capabilities before signing up for full access with Quizlet Plus.

Featuring over 36 million ebooks, the Internet Archive is possibly the largest digital library ever created. In addition to free ebooks, its catalog includes over 778 billion web pages and millions of videos, concerts, audio files, and software programs.

Cons of free college textbooks

Meeting certain rigorous standards means higher costs. Textbook publishers could go out of business. Concerns of an even smaller market could result in higher prices and even less competition if free textbooks drive publishers out of business.

Should I throw away old college textbooks? ›

Let go of your old textbooks that you aren't going to use, but before you chunk them, think about how else they can be used. Some people may still need them, and you can get some money from them. If not, then they can go on to live a second life through recycling or upcycling. Old books don't have to be in the way.

The Copyright Act allows anyone to photocopy copyrighted works without securing permission from the copyright owner when the photocopying amounts to a “fair use” of the material (17 U.S.C. SS107).

Print copy – The 10% rule applies to the total number of pages. Online – The 10% rule applies to the total number of words.

65% of College Students Can't Afford Textbooks.

There are several possible answers to this question as it depends on the particular case and the laws in place in that jurisdiction. However, it is generally possible to be sued for downloading pirated ebooks, particularly if the copyright holder can identify you as the person who made the download.

What Are the Penalties for Piracy? Piracy is punished quite severely under U.S.C. 81. Most overt acts of piracy come with a mandatory minimum of life imprisonment, while most others carry a maximum of 10 years in prison—not to mention hefty fines in many cases.

A civil lawsuit could hold you responsible for thousands of dollars in damages. Criminal charges may leave you with a felony record, accompanied by up to five years of jail time and fines up to $250,000.

A 26-year-old California man who pleaded guilty last December to criminal copyright infringement charges was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison -- the longest U.S. sentence ever for software piracy -- for his role in illegally copying and selling pirated software (download PDF).

Is Libgen Legal? No, Libgen is not legal, and using Libgen may open you up to legal ramifications.

You may also be able to find grants for college books or scholarships to help you cover books. Also, paying for books with federal or private loan funds is a legitimate use of your student loan money, so don't worry if some of your student aid needs to go towards helping you cover this big expense.

How many college students can't afford textbooks? ›

65% of College Students Can't Afford Textbooks.

The law of copyrights is inherently opposed to shadow libraries. As a result, Z-Library is an illegal website. Though their intentions are good, they make works available that are not legally authorized.

libgen.is's top 5 competitors in April 2023 are: researchgate.net, sci-hub.se, archive.org, semanticscholar.org, and more.

It's also possible to leave the money in your school account so it can be used in a future semester. Once that's done, you can use the leftover money for purchases that aren't usually automatically paid for using your financial aid. They can include textbooks, equipment, lab fees, a laptop and other materials.

The choice of whether or not to buy the textbook for a class is ultimately up to you. The professor will not reprimand you or fail you for not having bought the textbook as long as you keep up with your work and attend class.

In 2010, around 20 percent of students surveyed by the Book Industry Study Group reported illegally downloading course content. Today that number has risen to 34 percent. Over the same period of time, the amount of students who admitted to photocopying or scanning textbooks rose from 21 percent to 31 percent.

38% of College Students Drop Out Because of Finances – How to Lower That Number. The benefits of getting a college degree are sound.

Renting textbooks is much cheaper than purchasing books. There are many places where you can rent books online and some bookstores offer this service to their students. Keep in mind, you need to return rented textbooks by a certain date.

Is it cheaper to buy textbooks online? ›

In general, e-textbooks are more affordable than regular college textbooks. In some cases, digital textbooks may cost 40-50% less than physical copies, although savings are not always this high.