BioCyc Subscription FAQ

I only use MetaCyc or EcoCyc. Will I need a subscription for access?

No, you do not currently need a subscription to access these databases.

I am having trouble getting BioCyc to recognize my subscription

Please see our Troubleshooting page.

Can I just get a subscription to one database within BioCyc for a lower price?

No, all subscriptions provide the same level of access: unrestricted access to all databases within BioCyc.

My institution or company has a subscription to BioCyc, but I am being prompted to log in to access the database. What should I do?

After a small number of free access, all BioCyc users are asked to create free accounts, even if their institution subscribes.

In addition, if you are off-campus, make sure you are accessing BioCyc through your library's or company's VPN or proxy server. If you don't know how to do this, please contact your librarian or IT department. If you are on-campus, please contact us with a screenshot of the issue and your public IP address where you are experiencing the issue.

What will happen if my institution/company/I don't have a subscription?

You can obtain a free trial for BioCyc for one-month by creating a BioCyc account. Once the one month has expired, you will only be able to access the free databases EcoCyc and MetaCyc.

My library's fiscal year is closed so we will need to wait to purchase new materials. Can we get access now?

Please contact us to discuss your options.

I am a faculty member at an institution. How can I set up subscription access for my institution?

The best way to do this is by contacting your librarian to request a subscription. If you can't find your librarian's contact information, please contact us and we can try to help you locate this information.

I use BioCyc at a nonprofit institution, but I am not a faculty member. What can I do to help set up a subscription for my institution?

The best way to do this is also by contacting your librarian (as mentioned in the last question), but your request will be more effective if you ask your lab head or Principal Investigator (i.e., a faculty member) to submit the request to your library.

My company has strict data security policies, or it only allows us to access data through our own internal software. Is there a way we can download your data to keep in-house?

Yes, please contact us about your unique situation -- it is possible to create an internal mirror for BioCyc.

Do you support EZProxy?

Yes, many of our subscribers use EZ-Proxy for their off-campus access.

If you are a subscriber and need our configuration stanza, it is as follows:

Title BioCyc
URL https://biocyc.org
H https://www.biocyc.org/
H https://ecocyc.org/
H https://www.ecocyc.org/
H https://metacyc.org/
H https://www.metacyc.org/
H https://humancyc.org/
H https://www.humancyc.org/
H https://bsubcyc.org/
H https://www.bsubcyc.org/
H http://brg-files.ai.sri.com
DJ biocyc.org
DJ ecocyc.org
DJ metacyc.org
DJ humancyc.org
DJ bsubcyc.org
DJ brg-files.ai.sri.com