FAQs

The University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) offers open access publishing agreements and article processing charge (APC) discounts with a range of scholarly publishers, reducing the financial obligations on researchers who publish their work openly. These are negotiated into institutional licenses with the publisher or through paid memberships. UTL does not offer a general open access fund. 

Refer to the Publisher OA Agreements and Discounts webpage for an up to date list. 

These agreements and discounts are available to corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Toronto. This includes faculty, staff, students, and those with cross-appointments at affiliated hospitals and organizations. 

A corresponding author is generally understood to be the individual who takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the submission, peer review and publication process. 

It is always preferable that you submit your manuscript using your @utoronto / @mail.utoronto email address or by selecting the University of Toronto as your primary affiliation. Not doing so may preclude you from the deal or delay the publication process. 

In January 2021, the library upgraded to a new system. Before then, you had to search for items in our collections – called the 'catalogue' – course reserves, and articles, separately.  

Our new tool, LibrarySearch, searches all of these at once though a user friendly and mobile-responsive interface, and it has more functionality than the previous tool.

For example:

• It makes it easier to open article PDFs and to browse recent issues of a journal.
• It shows peer-reviewed status of articles
• More filters are available to help you refine search results, e.g., open access.
• You can choose from 7 citation styles in which to format the books and articles that you find, as well as easily export citations to applications like Zotero or Refworks.
• It also provides you with a customized experience when you log in with your UTORid. 

For more information on using all the many features and functions of LibrarySearch, have a look at this guide on using the new system.

Our loan services page has a chart that tells you how long you can check out library items based on your status at the university.

Loan privileges may vary at some libraries.

Our loan services page has a chart that tells you how many items you can check out based on your status at the university.

There are 40 libraries located on three university campuses: St. George, Mississauga and Scarborough.

Photocopies cost $0.10 per side. You must have a TCard, alumni card, library card or guest card to use the photocopiers. Load your card with TBucks for printing and photocopying online, or at a Guest Card & Cash Loading Station at Robarts Library or the Gerstein Science Information Centre.  

To print you must use either a TCard or a guest card. Load your card with TBucks for printing and photocopying online, or at a Guest Card & Cash Loading Station at Robarts Library or the Gerstein Science Information Centre.  Please note that legal size printing is not available. 

Black & white printers

$0.15 per side for letter size paper

Colour printers

• Colour printouts
  • $1.00 per page for letter (8.5 x 11)
  • $2.00 per page for tabloid (11 x 17)
• Black & white printouts:
  • $0.20 per page for letter
  • $0.40 per page for tabloid (11 x 17) 

Scanning is free at Robarts or Gerstein libraries.

Depending on the scanner, you will need the following to get the machine to work:

• a USB key only
• a USB key and a TCard with some value on it

Payment for in-person 3D printing is $1.00 + HST per 30 minutes of reservation time. For example, if you reserve the 3D printer for 2 hours, for example, the cost will be $4.00 + HST. 

The amount is included in your booking confirmation email you will receive upon an approved reservation. Please bring that email to the Gerstein service desk just before your booking time to pay and pick up a keyfob to access the lab.

For more information, please visit the Gerstein 3D Printing Services page.

Unless you are preparing a paper for a particular psychology journal, you will most likely be using the American Psychological Association's citation style, commonly referred to as APA style.

There are many copies of the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association at the library to help you construct your citations.  You could also consult an online resource such as Purdue University's Online Writing Lab APA guide.

Your library account will be cleared within 15 minutes after your online fine payment has been authorized.

Blocks on the release of official transcripts due to library fines will be cleared the following day.

You will receive an email when your requested material is available for pickup. The email will indicate where to pickup your item and how much time you have to pick it up. Make sure to have your TCard/Library Card with you upon pickup.

For requests that are fulfilled electronically, you will receive an email containing a link to download the file. 

To access the library's online resources, you must first submit a TCard Permission Letter Request to obtain a UTORid, on (or after) the scheduled start date of your course. 

Permission letters

Issued on or after your course's start date, you can request the permission letter:

• By email to learn@utoronto.ca 
• By telephone by calling 416-978-2400

Your letter will be ready one business day following your request.

The usual method to login to the online resources is to use your UTORid and password. If this is not working, then please contact the Circulation Desk at one of the libraries.

If you’re a newly hired research assistant entering a university lab or office soon, check out the information below to help get you up to speed:

• Explore our 40 beautiful libraries with a library tour and find the discipline-specific library dedicated to your subject
• Become an expert in researching and writing systematic reviews
• Strengthen your comprehensive searching skills (geared toward health sciences)
• Save time by using citation management software to store and cite sources
• Learn the important steps for research data management
• Request items from other libraries and institutions when we don't have what you need

The Tri-Agency Open Access Policy requires grant recipients to ensure that peer-reviewed journal publications arising from Agency-supported research are freely accessible within 12 months of publication. 

This policy applies to all grants awarded by NSERC or SSHRC from May 1, 2015 and onward; and by CIHR from January 1, 2008 and onward. Researchers holding previously awarded grants are also encouraged to adhere to the requirements of this policy.

How to comply with the new policy

1. Deposit your work into an open access repository

2. Publish in an open access journal

For more information on this policy or to schedule a consultation, please visit the following link: https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/copyright/funding-policy-cihr-nse…;

At this time, libraries are open to current University of Toronto students, faculty and staff only. 

If you do not have a TCard or Library Card, you can place an interlibrary loan request for Downsview material through your local institution. 

Yes.  We can send you materials by courier, but you will be responsible for costs involved with their return. Additional information is available on our website.

You should never be asked to login nor to pay for access to a journal or an article which is subscribed to by the UofT Libraries.  When this happens:

• Check to see if there are other copies of the journal from the ejournals search page or through LibrarySearch
• Contact the library for more assistance

Your library privileges as a current student expire after graduation and your academic status changes to "alumni." 

Alumni may purchase alumni library cards to borrow books and gain on-site access to library computers and on-site access to electronic resources. See Alumni Library Access for further information on what services are available to alumni library card holders.

Privileges may vary at individual libraries. 

You can use U of T books in the library, but if you want to take them out, you'll need a library card. 

Graduate students, faculty members and staff from other Canadian universities are eligible for a Direct Borrower card and all other researchers can apply for a Research Reader card.  Undergraduates from other universities and high school students are generally not eligible for borrowing privileges.  

Instead of obtaining a U of T library card, you can ask your home library to request a University of Toronto book for you via interlibrary loan.  Some libraries charge for this service.

The in-person 3D printing service and training is currently closed due to construction. Please access the remote service.

If you have attended safety training, you are ready to pass the knowledge test and become a certified user of the 3D Printing @ Gerstein + MADLab service. A passing grade of 100% is required to become a certified printer. For more information on when the in-person trainings and service will resume, please see the Gerstein 3D Printing Services page.

There are numerous reasons why a book may show as available in LibrarySearch, but not actually be on the shelf. Locate the sorting shelves on the floor, and check to see if the item is there. 

In Robarts sorting shelves are in middle of the yellow section on each stack floor.

At Gerstein sorting shelves are near the elevator on level 1 and 2 below: as you face the elevator, look to the right to find the sorting shelves. The library asks that you check the shelves at least twice before placing a search at the Loans Services desk on the main floor.

This will vary from library to library.

If the item is not on the sorting shelves, you can place a hold request on the item to prompt staff to search for it. If the item is still not found, it will be marked missing. 

Resources at the U of T Schools - a university preparatory high school - are only available to UTS staff and students.  If you are an undergrad, graduate or PhD student, faculty or staff at U of T, you cannot place a hold or borrow items whose locations are at U of T Schools. 

You can order the resource you are interested in through interlibrary loan instead.

To find an item in a library, you need to know:

• If the item is available. If it is, the item record will say Available. 
• Which U of T library the item is in
• The location of the item within the library.  Each library is organized differently, so ask a library staff member to direct you to the right location within the library.  Common locations include:
  • Stacks: the library’s main book shelves
  • Course Reserves: high-demand course readings that have short term loan periods, e.g. 3 hours
  • Reference: encyclopedias, dictionaries and other materials that must remain in the library
• The call number. This is like the address of the book on the shelf.