A Critical Conversation with Alexandra Elbakyan: Is she the Pirate Queen, Robin Hood, a Scholarly Activist, or a Butterfly Flapping its Wings?

Abstract

The conversation with Alexandra Elbakyan intends to explore the Sci-Hub phenomenon and the core motives that initiated Sci-Hub. Accordingly, Sci-Hub is an open science project that has gone viral and is driven by people who pursue knowledge. The core idea behind the Sci-Hub is very simple: people should have access to knowledge without any restrictions. Elbakyan argues that science should be ruled by the scientist, not by the corporations. It is here, in a publish or perish scholarly world, that Sci-Hub aims to give control back to scientists and empower them. Elbakyan claims that for-profit corporations are gatekeeping knowledge, whereas Sci-Hub is disseminating it for the greater good. The conversation with Elbakyan about Sci-Hub raises a critical question for us to answer: Who is the real owner of the information?