Listen to ScienceDirect
Turn any sciencedirect.com article into audio. Open the paper in Chrome, click CastReader, and listen through the abstract and body — with paragraph highlighting. Works across all Elsevier journals.
Why Listen to ScienceDirect with CastReader?
Elsevier's platform has dense reading chrome. CastReader keeps only the science.
Full Portfolio
4,000+ Elsevier Journals
The Lancet, Cell, Trends in, Current Biology, Neuron, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Tetrahedron, Biomaterials, Neuroscience — Elsevier publishes across medicine, life science, chemistry, physics, engineering, and social science. One extractor handles the whole ScienceDirect portfolio.
Clean Audio
Skips 'Recommended Articles' and Metrics Rails
ScienceDirect wraps articles with 'Recommended Articles' rails, 'Cited by' lists, 'Article Outline' navigation, and download sidebars. CastReader reads only the title, abstract, and main text in order. Your audio starts at the actual science, not a promo carousel.
Paywall Honest
Reads What Your Institution Loaded
CastReader reads whatever text your browser rendered. Institutional subscribers get full text in the DOM — we read it. Non-subscribers see the abstract — we read that. Open-access articles (ScienceDirect Open Archive, gold OA) always read end-to-end.
100% Free
Unlimited Research Listening
No signup, no quota, no subscription. When you're trying to read six Lancet papers during rounds or ten Current Biology articles during a commute, audio is the only workflow that scales.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything about listening to ScienceDirect with CastReader
How do I listen to a ScienceDirect article?
Open the article on sciencedirect.com in Chrome (URLs look like /science/article/pii/S0140673623012345 or /science/article/abs/pii/...). Click the CastReader icon. It reads title → abstract → main text.
Does it work on The Lancet and Cell?
Yes. Lancet journals are on thelancet.com, Cell Press on cell.com — both are Elsevier-family but use dedicated platforms. ScienceDirect specifically is the main Elsevier platform. Our /listen-to-cell page covers Cell Press specifically.
What about 'Article Outline' navigation?
The 'Outline' sidebar on ScienceDirect is navigation chrome, not content. CastReader reads the actual article sections (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) in order, not the outline headings as separate items.
What about paywalled articles?
CastReader reads whatever your browser rendered. If your institution subscribes, full text is in the DOM and we read it. Open-access articles (green OA, gold OA, ScienceDirect Open Archive) always read in full. Subscription-locked articles read only the abstract.
What gets skipped?
Author affiliations with ORCID/Scopus links, reference lists, 'Recommended Articles' rails, 'Cited by' counts, CrossMark widgets, and figure images. Figure and table captions are read as prose.
Does it handle Trends in Cell Biology / Trends in Genetics?
Yes — Cell Press Trends journals are on ScienceDirect and use the same rendering. Trends reviews are often 6–10k words, which is a natural audio listen.
Can I adjust reading speed?
Yes. 0.5x through 3x. 1.5x is common for Introduction and Discussion, 1.2x for dense Methods sections.
Is it free? Any limits?
Completely free with no page or character limits. No account needed. CastReader is a free browser extension for Chrome and Edge.
Start Listening to ScienceDirect
Completely free. No signup. No limits. Install CastReader and open any Elsevier article.