Sci-Hub

Sci-Hub is a <a href="/facts/Library/hvdQNTtS">library</a> website that provides free access to millions of <a href="/facts/Academic_paper/WfPqsYr1">research papers</a>, <a href="/facts/Copyright_infringement/33JDsS5S">regardless of copyright</a>, by bypassing publishers' <a href="/facts/Paywall/42qFQy1U">paywalls</a> in various ways. Unlike <a href="/facts/Library_Genesis/9xazw0xh">Library Genesis</a>, it does not provide access to books. Sci-Hub was founded in <a href="/facts/Kazakhstan/Vfs8NI6e">Kazakhstan</a> by <a href="/facts/Alexandra_Elbakyan/avGvQNA0">Alexandra Elbakyan</a> in 2011, in response to the <a href="/facts/Serials_crisis/IRAVLfNu">rising costs of research papers behind paywalls</a>. The site is extensively used worldwide. In September 2019, the site's operator(s) said that it served approximately 400,000 requests per day. 
In addition to its intensive use, Sci-Hub stands out among other shadow libraries because of its easy use/reliability and because of the enormous size of its collection; a 2018 study estimated that Sci-Hub provided access to most of the scholarly publications with issued <a href="/facts/Digital_object_identifier/muM9Etpq">DOI</a> numbers. On 15 July 2022, Sci-Hub reported that its collection comprised 88,343,822 files. Since December 2020, the site has paused uploads due to legal troubles. 
Sci-Hub and Elbakyan were sued twice for <a href="/facts/Copyright_infringement/33JDsS5S">copyright infringement</a> in the United States, in 2015 and 2017, and lost both cases <a href="/facts/Default_judgment/PpgGd8TG">by default</a>, leading to loss of some of its Internet <a href="/facts/Domain_name/FDLD2m5G">domain names</a>. The site has cycled through different domain names since then.
Sci-Hub has been praised by some in the <a href="/facts/Scientific_community/0YIPcVzE">scientific</a>, academic, and publishing communities for providing access to knowledge generated by the scientific community, which is usually funded by taxpayers (government grants) and with zero <a href="/facts/Royalties/8caVPHCP">royalties</a> paid to the authors. Publishers have criticized it for violating copyright, reducing the revenue of publishers, and potentially being linked to activities compromising universities' <a href="/facts/Network_security/09f8YxwD">network security</a>, though the cybersecurity threat posed by Sci-Hub may have been exaggerated by publishers.
Elbakyan questioned the morality of the publishers' business and the legality of their methods in regards to the <a href="/facts/Right_to_science_and_culture/fSSPVtn3">right to science and culture</a> under Article 27 of the <a href="/facts/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights/8hsauJsB">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>, while maintaining that Sci-Hub should be "perfectly legal". Many Sci-Hub users see Sci-Hub as a <a href="/facts/Moral_imperative/NtEUw7yj">moral imperative</a>, and if the operation of Sci-Hub contradicts the law, it is the law that should be changed rather than banning Sci-Hub.

Sci-Hub open-in-new

Sci-Hub