Introduction
Cornell University Library enters license agreements with publishers in order to provide digital access to materials. These license agreements can vary in whether data mining is allowed, and under what circumstances. These license agreements also guide Cornell University Library staff in considering the feasibility of different text data mining cases.
The table below overviews examples of common publishers researchers inquire about, with corresponding links to terms of service and guidance on how to pursue text data mining. In some cases, Cornell University Library may have negotiated more flexible text data mining access than what is stated in the terms of service.
Contact digitalcolab@cornell.edu if you have questions or issues, or if you have a question about a publisher not listed below.
Table: Text Data Mining Allowances by Publisher
Last updated: November 24, 2025
| Publisher | Link to Terms of Service | Is TDM allowed? | Guidance for Text Data Mining |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAAS/ Science | |||
| American Physical Society (APS) | |||
| Elsevier | Yes, with limitations. See guidance. | Refer to the documentation on the Elsevier API developer website for how to get started using APIs to access and download content. | |
| Institute of Physics (IOP) | Yes. See guidance. | From terms of service: "Researchers seeking to obtain large amounts of data for T&DM are asked to contact us (contentsupport@ioppublishing.org)." | |
| Springer | Springer Nature Terms of Service | No | |
| Nature | |||
| PLOS | |||
| Sage | |||
| Taylor & Francis | |||
| Wiley |