Use Caution for E-Journals, E-books, Databases

Caution for Systematic Download and Excessive Access

Systematic downloading and Excessive Access of electronic resources are strictly prohibited.

For example you must not:
  • Accessing and Downloading with programs: "crawlers", "robots", "spiders" etc...
  • Downloading with download support softwares
  • Downloading all volumes or all articles of an specific journal 
  • Rapidly downloading one article after another (Opening files one after the other so fast that you can't read the text may also be considered a systematic download.)

The standard of allowable downloading depends on publishers or associations.

Please be aware that systematic downloading will cause the publisher to block entire community of users of University of Tsukuba from accessing our subscribed resources.

Use Caution for Link Prefetching Function of Web Browser

While electronic journals or databases are used, several cases are reported where, owing to link prefetching function of web browser, repeated access to the link within the webpage in the background unintendedly lead to systematic download.
Please cancel link prefetching function of your web browser according to the following steps. Many cases are reported with Microsoft Edge users in particular.

  • Microsoft Edge [Latest Version]
    Open Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Cookies and data stored.
    Open Manage and delete cookies and site data.
    Set “Preload pages for faster browsing and searching” to off.  
  • Microsoft Edge [Old Version]
    Open Settings > View advanced settings, then use the slide to cancel “Use page prediction to speed up browsing, improve reading, and make my overall experience better”.
  • Google Chrome
    Open Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data > Preload pages
    Choose "No preloading".
  • FireFox
    Type “about:config” in URL bar and press Enter.
    If warning page is displayed, click “Accept the Risk and Continue”.
    Search “network.prefetch-next” and switch to “false”.
  • Safari (Mac)
    Open Safari > Preferences > Search tab  
    Uncheck the box “Preload Top Hit in the background”.
  • Safari (iOS, iPadOS)
    Settings app > Safari > Toggle "Preload To Hit" to the off position.
  • Internet Explorer 11 (End of service life: 06/15/2022)
    Open Internet Options > Advanced tab  
    Under “Browsing” uncheck the box "Load sites and content in the background to optimize performance."

Use Caution for Citation Tools

Full-text download function of citation tools (ex. EndNote Find Full Text) may lead to systematic download.
Please refrain from using this function.