Frustrated scientist provides free access to 47 million academic papers

Alexandra Elbakyan, a Russia-based neuroscientist, founded the website Sci-Hub in 2011 to illegally provide free access to academic papers now totaling nearly 47 million. Elbakyan acknowledges that this is illegal, but states on the Sci-Hub website that she is advocating “for cancellation of intellectual property, or copyright laws, for scientific and educational resources.” According to Vox, the main issues with the current academic journal publishing model include limited access to publicly funded research, lack of royalties for researchers, and payment in "prestige." "The UN [Charter] says that a person cannot be excluded from participating in culture and scientific progress. I think that paywalls are doing just that, effectively excluding many people,” Elbakyan said in an interview. Vox (Article) | Vox (Interview)