Call for Interviewee on Sci-Hub

["Okere, Kelechi N. (ELS-NYC)" <K.Okere () ELSEVIER COM>]

Hi all,

If you know about and have dealt with the digital piracy site Sci-Hub in any meaningful way, would you be willing to 
participate in an interview for the journal The Serials Librarian? The following abstract was accepted in response to 
the journal’s call for papers. Please get in touch if you’re interested in adding to the literature on Sci-Hub.

The Serials Librarian
Libraries, Data, and Privacy: A Special Issue of The Serials Librarian
(File under “Threats to Data Security (i.e. Sci-Hub and Ransomware)”)

Is Sci-Hub Really the Robin Hood of Science?
By Gwen Evans, VP Global Library Relations, Elsevier
and Kelechi Okere, Global Dir., Seamless Access Initiative, Elsevier

Abstract: On December 19, 2019, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the 
founder and operator of Sci-Hub Alexandra Elbakyan on suspicion of working with Russian intelligence to steal U.S. 
military secrets from defense contractors. The article further discusses Sci-Hub’s methods for acquiring the login 
credentials of university students and faculty “to pilfer vast amounts of academic literature.” This has long been 
public knowledge. But the confirmation of Sci-Hub potentially working with Russian intelligence was major news. Both 
fronts of the Sci-Hub assault on stealing intellectual property are concerning. Since many academic researchers and 
their employers routinely receive defense contracts to perform sensitive research, the article helped posit that 
offering free access to academic research articles is perhaps a Trojan Horse strategy for Sci-Hub.

Undoubtedly, there is more to the story than meets the public eye. For example, Elbakyan says in the article that 
hacking is not her occupation and that Sci-Hub is a personal enterprise. Is she really the Robin Hood of science as her 
supporters describe her or is there evidence that supports the notion that her work is a much more complex enterprise 
worthy of everyone’s attention? What can we find by looking a little bit closer? To help answer some of these 
questions, the interviewers aim to investigate the frequency, severity, and sophistication of Sci-Hub’s attacks by 
interviewing three personas: a systems librarian, and Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) from an academic 
institution and a publisher. These personas are closest to the intelligence on Sci-Hub and the threat Sci-Hub poses to 
data security of all kinds. The interview will present some insights based on data that suggests that Sci-Hub is 
probably not a personal enterprise as Elbakyan insists. Ultimately, the interview should inform and challenge the 
reader’s thinking about not only Sci-Hub and other bad actors like it, but also about the relationship between data 
security, the academic record and the status of intellectual property as something to be protected at all costs.


Regards,
Kelechi


-----
Kelechi Okere
ELSEVIER | Global Dir. Seamless Access Initiative
230 Park Avenue, Suite 800
New York, NY 10169

Phone: +1 212-462-1907
Mobile: +1 917-331-1957
Email: k.okere () elsevier com



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