Harvard Business Review & Cases: Restrictions & Availability

Can professors point students to Harvard Business Review via Business Source Elite in my syllabi or other means for assigned course reading?

Harvard Business School Publishing has historically restricted the use of Harvard Business Review articles in Business Source Elite to individual use. In 2020 the rider at the end of each HBR article in BSE was changed to read:

“Copyright 2021 Harvard Business Publishing. All Rights Reserved. Additional restrictions may apply including the use of this content as assigned course material. Please consult your institution's librarian about any restrictions that might apply under the license with your institution. For more information and teaching resources from Harvard Business Publishing including Harvard Business School Cases, eLearning products, and business simulations please visit hbsp.harvard.edu.”

We asked EBSCO to clarify what our license restriction(s) are. According to the rep: "only those institutions with an HBR for Coursework license may allow students and professors to use the content without restriction." RIT does not have a Coursework license. Harvard Business Review articles in Business Source Elite may only be used for individual use. Faculty should not link to HBR articles in Business Source Elite for assigned course reading.

Looking for Harvard Business Review articles for your private individual use or research?

• Harvard Business Review is available electronically in full-text back to 1985 in the library's subscription to Business Source Elite/EBSCOhost. Link below.
• Harvard Business Review is available on library microfilm back to 1922 when the library is open.
• When the library is open, the most recent print issues are available for browsing on the 2nd floor in the Current Magazines area near the Cary Collection.
• hbr.org offers visitors to their site varying levels of access. The publisher lists their article limits on the hbr.org site. The library does not coordinate with or subscribe to this site.

Unable to print or download a Harvard Business Review article in Business Source Elite?

Business Source Elite/EBSCOhost and Harvard Business Review prevent printing and downloading of 500 Harvard Business Review articles. Known among libraries as the HBR 500, these rotating articles are set by the publisher to be read on-screen only. No printing and downloading.  No current list of the HBR 500 is made available by the vendor or publisher. The articles included in the HBR 500 have changed since 2013 and it is understood inclusion reflects popularity. Articles from Harvard Business Review dating back to 1922 are available through the library's microfilm collection and the latest issues are on the current magazine shelves near Circulation on the first floor. If you are not studying on campus use Interlibrary loan to request copies of print and microfilm articles.

Looking for Harvard Case Studies?

RIT does not buy access to case studies. Students check with your professor and syllabus to see how they suggest you buy these. Faculty see link below about Educator Access.