Research guides
The open shelves
Defence and security studies is unusually well served by serious research that is free to read in full. These are the shelves we recommend you start from. Everything below is legitimate open access: no paywall, no login. For a source you cannot reach, use Get It For Me and the library will fetch it for you.
RAND Corporation
Thousands of full-text reports on strategy, force design, deterrence and security cooperation. The single richest free shelf in the field.
rand.org/pubs →Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Research and analysis on African security: coups, violent extremism, maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, civil-military relations.
africacenter.org →SIPRI
The reference source for military expenditure, arms transfers and peace operations data, with the SIPRI Yearbook summaries free to read.
sipri.org →NATO Defense College
Research papers and policy briefs on alliance strategy, deterrence and the security of Europe's southern neighbourhood.
ndc.nato.int →US Army War College Press
Parameters journal and monographs on landpower, strategy and leadership, all free, all written for officers like you.
press.armywarcollege.edu →DTIC public collection
Declassified and public US defence technical reports going back decades: doctrine, logistics, operations research.
discover.dtic.mil →DOAJ: security studies
Peer-reviewed open access journals across security, conflict and strategic studies, indexed and quality-checked.
doaj.org →DOAB: open access books
Tens of thousands of peer-reviewed scholarly books free to download, including strong international relations and African studies lists.
doabooks.org →