If governments fund scientific research, should for-profit publishers be able to copyright the findings? In 2015, Elsevier, a major publisher of academic journals, filed a lawsuit against Sci-Hub, a website started in 2011 that now houses roughly 60 million pirated articles for free download — a violation of copyright law.
In 2016, the case turned an ongoing debate about access to research in the digital age into a public debate. Open-access advocates, like Sci-Hub’s founder, Alexandra Elbakyan, contend that freely sharing research promotes faster innovation. And it doesn’t exclude scientists who work at institutions that can’t afford journal subscriptions, which range from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. But traditional “gatekeeper” publishers like Elsevier worry that sites like Sci-Hub could lower standards and promote irresponsible science. Discover asked all sides to weigh in on the future of scientific publishing.
