Shadow Libraries Research Articles

Webometric analysis of alternative access to scholarly publication

Purpose: This study aims to uncover the worldwide usage patterns and growth trends of Library Genesis (LibGen) and Sci-Hub, two popular alternative access platforms to scholarly publications. Design/methodology/approach: This study utilizes a webometric approach to analyze worldwide usage patterns and growth trends of LibGen and Sci-Hub. Data was collected between May and June 2023 on online presence, usage metrics, and pattern from different web-based tools like LibGen and Sci-Hub database, Google Trends, SimilarWeb, and existing Python and GitHub projects. Analyses are conducted by incorporating statistical techniques and previous literature reviews. Findings: The study reveals that LibGen and Sci-Hub have experienced a notable surge in popularity despite facing copyright infringements, legal disputes, and restrictions. Conversion rates and unique visitors have significantly increased, with users from various nations, including developed countries like the USA and China. Statistical data shows a preference for accessing science and technology-related resources, particularly in the field of medicine. Most of the downloads originated from reputable publishers and academic journals. The main motivations behind using these platforms are the high costs and limited access to scholarly publications. This phenomenon has attracted researchers, academics, students, and information seekers globally as they seek to overcome financial constraints and institutional barriers hindering access to valuable knowledge. Research limitations: The study acknowledges limitations related to potential discrepancies and biases from external software and incomplete representation of source databases. The dynamic nature of the platforms also means data is only up until 2022, potentially excluding recent developments. Additionally, the country specific data may not give the exact idea as people use Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access the platforms bypassing restrictions. Practical implications: The findings shed light on the challenges faced by the academic community and offer potential implications for policymakers, publishers, and researchers aiming to address the growing demand for affordable and accessible scholarly publications. Originality/value: The originality of this study lies in its application to examine the alternative shadow libraries for scholarly publications. This research contributes to the existing knowledge domain by offering valuable insights into the extent and trends of utilizing shadow platforms, focusing on the implications of copyright infringements, legal concerns, and restrictions on scholarly knowledge dissemination.

The use of shadow libraries at Universitas Indonesia

Shadow libraries (SLs), such as Sci-Hub, Z-Library, and Library Genesis (LibGen), are online databases that provide content that is otherwise difficult to access (due to paywalls or other copyright controls) using unofficial methods of questionable legality. Interest in the SL phenomenon has focused on copyright infringement that occurs when a database provides library materials, for which access rights need to be purchased, without the knowledge of a given copyright owner. This study analyzes the use of SLs at the Universitas Indonesia (UI). The research uses a quantitative approach, with a survey distributed to 262 undergraduate students at UI. The frequency of SL use in academic activities of UI students is compared with the use of the UI Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC UI). The results show that most UI students have not used SLs. However, those who have used SLs report more positive impressions and higher levels of satisfaction compared with OPAC UI.

The structural transformation of the scientific public sphere: Constitution and consequences of the path towards open access

We are currently witnessing a fundamental structural transformation of the scientific public sphere, characterized by processes of specialization, metrification, internationalization, platformization and visibilization. In contrast to explanations of this structural transformation that invoke a technological determinism, we demonstrate its historical contingency by drawing on analytic concepts from organization theory and the case of the Open Access transformation in Germany. The digitization of academic journals has not broadened access to scientific output but narrowed it down even further in the course of the ‘serials crisis’. For a long time, research institutions were not able to convince large academic publishers to adopt less restrictive forms of access to academic journals. It was only through the emergence of new and in part illegal actors (shadow libraries and preprint servers) that the existing path could be broken, and an Open Access path constituted. Following this analysis, we discuss consequences of the Open Access transformation for the public spheres of science and democracy. We conclude that Open Access publishing can only help to transform both communicative spaces towards the normative ideal of a public sphere when complemented by systematic support for non-profit publication infrastructures.

Digital libraries in crisis: The case of the national emergency library

This paper explores the National Emergency Library (NEL) created by the Internet Archive (IA) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NEL allowed unrestricted access to the IA’s collection of digitized books, suspending the waitlist imposed by the Controlled Digital Lending system. The study uses Carol Bacchi’s What’s the Problem Represented to be (WPR) approach to analyze problem representations in media narratives and understand the response to the NEL. The study covers articles written between March 2020 and 2 years after, using a threepronged reading consisting of a distant, middle, and close reading. The analysis reveals that the IA and NEL are not necessarily consistent with piracy or shadow libraries, but that they differ in complexity and compliance with copyright law. The paper contributes to a critical understanding of how problem representations are constructed and shaped in media narratives, and how this affects digital libraries in times of crisis, and subsequently, policy discourse for all libraries. Overall, the paper highlights the complexities and nuances surrounding the NEL and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the implications of this response for digital libraries and copyright law.

Sci-Hub use among Spanish researchers: Enemy or a learning opportunity for libraries?

Access to scientific literature is the cornerstone of scientific knowledge and numerous scientific-technical and social advances. However, in 2018, major difficulties in accessing the scientific literature have been reported. Despite Open Access has made more than 50% of scientific literature accessible without paywalls, during this year’s access to pirate scientific resources, such as Sci-Hub, has increased. It is one of the most popular resources among researchers and university students. The key aspect is to differentiate between these kinds of resources (black open access or shadow library) and the Open Access movement. Black open access violates copyright regulations, and Open Access wants to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited. We conducted a questionnaire with 17 items about the use of Sci-Hub among Spanish-speaking sciences and social sciences researchers. Libraries must learn from these kinds of resources how to improve the access to their scientific resources, and propose to the editors a different way of business, more similar to Spotify or Netflix than the journal bundles offered nowadays, usually with numerous journals with an embargo period or no relevance to the scientific community.

Undergraduate students’ use of shadow libraries as counter-enclosure of knowledge

Introduction. University students rely on heavily on academic literature, however, paywalls frequently stifle its access. To circumvent this limitation, they use shadow libraries, an unofficial archive of academic resources freely available online. We investigated how Universitas Gadjah Mada students use shadow libraries to mitigate the lack of access their institutions provide.
 Data collection methods. We collected data using an online survey involving 398 Universitas Gadjah Mada students to gather descriptive statistical data on the usage of shadow libraries and a literature study.
 Data analysis. We analyzed quantitative data with statistics processing software (Stata) and coded the open-ended qualitative responses.
 Results and Discussion. Students use shadow libraries because shadow libraries are more accessible and offer more access to literature than university library. They use shadow libraries despite their ambivalence due to shadow libraries’ legality. Moreover, some students also support shadow libraries, using them as part of an active effort to counter the enclosure of scholarly goods.
 Conclusion. Our findings show that shadow libraries have used a main alternative platform to access collections that are not available at the university library.

Gamifying piracy: functions and users of the Z-library

PurposeThis paper aims to show how an illegal repository of literature, the Z-library, relates to and influences its users and how this relation is unique due to the illegal nature of the platform. The paper utilizes the idea of gamification to exemplify how to motivate users to contribute to a large shadow library in order to create the “world's largest e-book library,” sans “librarians.”Design/methodology/approachThe study makes use of an ethnographic approach. It interrogates the functions of the website through intensive use—a close reading of sorts. The data provide a foundation for illustrating how illegal text repositories function at a surface level and how their design appeals to their user-base.FindingsThe paper provides a thorough and non-biased overview of how a “black open access” or “shadow library” site provides its users with pirated literature. It suggests that the lynchpin sustaining their functionality is a gamification of piracy designed to motivate a fragmented collective of individuals who work primarily for personal reward, rather than altruistic goals.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the design of the study, the findings are not universal or applicable to all illegal repositories of text. Readers and researchers are encouraged to apply the concept introduced here to other cases.Social implicationsThis paper includes implication on the perception of literature piracy, how pirated literature is distributed and who performs the labor required to sustain illicit text repositories.Originality/valueThis paper provides a novel conceptual basis to study literature piracy.

Open Access Redefined: Survey Data and Literature Study on the Impact of Sci-Hub in Orthopaedic Research.

Since Alexandra Elbanyan founded Sci-Hub in 2011, the website has been used by a growing number of researchers worldwide. Sci-Hub is a so-called shadow library or guerrilla open access format bypassing publishers' paywalls, giving everyone free access to scientific papers. Until today, there have been no publications about usage by orthopaedic and trauma surgeons of Sci-Hub or other "pirate sites" and how it may influence their work. Orthopaedic and trauma surgeons of four university hospitals in Germany and Europe were consulted using a standardised questionnaire containing multiple items about the use and evaluation of Sci-Hub. In addition, the Medline and Cochrane databases were screened for all studies related to Sci-Hub. Two reviewers independently reviewed all articles and the references of these articles. Of all orthopaedic surgeons consulted, 69% knew of Sci-Hub and 66.7% used it on a regular basis. Of the younger participants (<45 years old), 77% knew the webpage, while only 25% of older participants (>45 years old) knew the webpage. Ninety percent found the quality of their citation and research had been enhanced since using Sci-Hub. On a scale of 1 to 10, user-friendliness was rated with a mean rating of 7.58 (95% CI: 7.262-7.891). Ethical or legal concerns among users seem mixed. On a scale of 1 (no concerns) to 5 (many concerns), the mean score was 2.39 (95% CI: 2.154-2.615). Of doctors using Sci-Hub, 89% would recommend it to other colleagues. The quality and number of articles in Sci-Hub is outstanding, and the rate of young researchers using the website is high. The most important shift in literature research for decades is a phenomenon mostly used by young researchers and is not the subject of current research itself. Sci-Hub may have already changed how orthopaedic research works.

“Free libraries for the free people”: How mass-literature “shadow” libraries circumvent digital barriers and redefine legality in contemporary Russia

Shadow mass-literature online libraries in Russia developed during the early Post-Soviet years. They are a phenomenon rooted in both the practice of circumventing constraints caused by state censorship, and a book production process of insufficient quality. Since the fall of the USSR, Russian legislation has aligned itself with international standards, adopting their strictest instantiation. In 2013, “anti-piracy” legislation made “information intermediaries” responsible for illegal content, introduced an “eternal” blocking of sites, made pre-trial negotiations more difficult. Successive amendments have sought to respond to the circumvention tactics developed by shadow libraries. In this context, for a library which is not part of the book market, remaining in the legal realm means freezing its own content or becoming a self-publishing platform. Libraries that become illegal have to ensure the sustainability and growth of their collections by multiplying their dissemination means, to provide personal security to administrators through a “safe” geographical location or strict anonymity, and to guarantee an access to their collections on the Russian Federation territory through inventive circumvention techniques. They leave the public struggle against state and industry regulation of the Internet to digital rights advocates, and promote a particular vision of “freedom” anchored in the mastery of technical tools and in uncensored cultural practices.

Aesthetics, Commons and the Production of the Subject An Interview with Cornelia Sollfrank and Felix Stalder

Two of the editors of the volume <i>Aesthetics of the Commons</i> (Diaphanes 2021) Cornelia Sollfrank and Felix Stalder discuss with WPCC journal the potential and meanings of the digital commons in creating new subjectivities and new imaginaries on and off the internet. Within this they question whether the focus on the aesthetics of the commons is useful for understanding phenomena such as ‘artistic shadow libraries’, pointing towards the need to build institutions for which ‘practices of commoning are central’. Also considered are the modern art system, copyright, and the corrosive individualism of Western modernity in the artistic sphere. Against these factors they note instead that, ‘the commons are structured through different relations, and care expresses that difference’. New economic approaches are needed in the arts supported by political actors which might include the ‘re-envisioning [of] public institutions, such as public broadcasting, as part of a commons’.

Where Can the Crow Make Friends? Sci‐Hub's Activities in the Library of Development Studies and its Implications for the Field

ABSTRACTThis study examines data on the worldwide use of the shadow library website Sci‐Hub. It focuses particularly on the discipline of development studies, taking a critical look at current practices in scientific publishing and their implications for scientific conduct in this field. In the context of discussions about open science, the data demonstrate that Sci‐Hub represents an existing network of open access literature. The study first describes the extent and geographic distribution of download requests from Sci‐Hub and then identifies the underlying socio‐economic drivers (i.e. GDP and population). The authors find that Sci‐Hub is used the most by researchers from the global South, primarily from middle‐income countries, whereas researchers from the poorest countries in the data set use Sci‐Hub the least. This approach allows some conclusions to be drawn about factors that have an effect on a functioning open access network.

Right to Research and Copyright Law: From Photocopying to Shadow Libraries

Academic research and publishing are facing a crisis. The importance of access to academic literature in an interconnected world, the ever-growing cost of subscriptions to this literature, different revenue models of journals, and reducing or stagnant library budgets are pushing research and the academic community to find alternatives for academic research and publications. In its 25 years of existence, the open access movement and models which sought to contain the crisis have become the subject of considerable criticism. At the same time, a significant portion of academic literature remains locked behind steep paywalls. This has led to the growth of pirate websites and shadow libraries which have been met with forceful legal retribution by the publishers using Copyright laws. Using the Sci-Hub case, which is currently facing copyright infringement by a group of publishers before the Delhi High Court, the article evaluates the Open Access Movement, fair dealing in copyright law, academic piracy, and courts cases in the United States, India, and other countries, within the broad meaning of the right to research. The paper concludes that the purposive interpretation of the Copyright Law may have an answer enabling a just outcome.

Can scholarly pirate libraries bridge the knowledge access gap? An empirical study on the structural conditions of book piracy in global and European academia.

Library Genesis is one of the oldest and largest illegal scholarly book collections online. Without the authorization of copyright holders, this shadow library hosts and makes more than 2 million scholarly publications, monographs, and textbooks available. This paper analyzes a set of weblogs of one of the Library Genesis mirrors, provided to us by one of the service's administrators. We reconstruct the social and economic factors that drive the global and European demand for illicit scholarly literature. In particular, we test if lower income regions can compensate for the shortcomings in legal access infrastructures by more intensive use of illicit open resources. We found that while richer regions are the most intensive users of shadow libraries, poorer regions face structural limitations that prevent them from fully capitalizing on freely accessible knowledge. We discuss these findings in the wider context of open access publishing, and point out that open access knowledge, if not met with proper knowledge absorption infrastructures, has limited usefulness in addressing knowledge access and production inequalities.

Open Access is not a Panacea, even if it’s Radical – an Empirical Study on the Role of Shadow Libraries in Closing the Inequality of Knowledge Access.

Library Genesis is one of the oldest and largest illegal scholarly book collections online. Without the authorization of copyright holders, this shadow library hosts and makes more than 2 million scholarly publications, monographs, and textbooks available. This paper analyzes a set of weblogs of one of the Library Genesis mirrors, provided to us by one of the service’s administrators. We reconstruct the social and economic factors that drive the global and European demand for illicit scholarly literature. In particular, we test if lower income regions can compensate for the shortcomings in legal access infrastructures by more intensive use of illicit open resources. We found that while richer regions are the most intensive users of shadow libraries, poorer regions face structural limitations that prevent them from fully capitalizing on freely accessible knowledge. We discuss these findings in the wider context of open access publishing, and point out that open access knowledge, if not met with proper knowledge absorption infrastructures, has limited usefulness in addressing knowledge access and production inequalities.

Sci-Hub, a challenge for academic and research libraries

Sci-Hub emerged into the field of scientific communication in 2011 as a platform for free access to scientific papers. It is the most popular of the so-called shadow libraries, systems that overcome the limits of legal access to scientific publications, standing apart from the open access movement. Besides from the media coverage that has served to boost its popularity, several studies reveal the impact of Sci-Hub among researchers, who have embraced this initiative. Sci-Hub has revealed new forms of access to scientific information, affecting academic and research libraries that cannot remain on the sidelines. This study addresses the Sci-Hub phenomenon and its implications for academic and research libraries from different points of view, through a bibliographic review and an analysis of examples of action.

Joe Karaganis, Editor: Shadow Libraries: Access to Knowledge in Global Higher Education

Joe Karaganis, Editor: Shadow Libraries: Access to Knowledge in Global Higher Education

Shadow Libraries: Access to Knowledge in Global Higher Education

Shadow Libraries: Access to Knowledge in Global Higher Education

Pirates in the Library An Inquiry into the Guerilla Open Access Movement

2016 is the year when piracy finally became an unavoidable topic in the domain of scholarly communications. The public exposure of Sci-Hub, a copyright infringing site that provides free access to paywalled journal databases, electrified the decade old debates about the role of scholars, (commercial) publishers, libraries, and copyright in creating an environment, where results of scholarly inquiry are equally accessible for all.This article gives insight into the Guerilla Open Access (GOA) movement, which is responsible for the creation and maintenance of massive, copyright infringing, freely accessible online shadow libraries of scholarly works: journal articles, monographs, textbooks. It reconstructs the developments in the western and global academia and scholarly publishing which led to the birth of the movement, and identifies some of the factors its ongoing existence depends on. The article discusses several aspects of the GOA movement: the alliance of scholars in the global centers and at the global peripheries, the alliance of public and clandestine operations, and its relationship with, and its differences from the Open Access (OA) approach, which aims to facilitate the accessibility of scholarly communications through legal means.The goal of this article is to contribute to the discussions of the future of scholarly communications through the description of a phenomenon which poses the single greatest challenge to the scholarly publishing status quo in recent history.

Libraries in the Post-Scarcity Era

In the digital era where, thanks to the ubiquity of electronic copies, the book is no longer a scarce resource, libraries find themselves in an extremely competitive environment. Several different actors are now in a position to provide low cost access to knowledge. One of these competitors are shadow libraries - piratical text collections which have now amassed electronic copies of millions of copyrighted works and provide access to them usually free of charge to anyone around the globe. While such shadow libraries are far from being universal, they are able to offer certain services better, to more people and under more favorable terms than most public or research libraries. This contribution offers insights into the development and the inner workings of one of the biggest scientific shadow libraries on the internet in order to understand what kind of library people create for themselves if they have the means and if they don’t have to abide by the legal, bureaucratic and economic constraints that libraries usually face. I argue that one of the many possible futures of the library is hidden in the shadows, and those who think of the future of libraries can learn a lot from book pirates of the 21st century about how users and readers expect texts in electronic form to be stored, organized and circulated.

A Short History of the Russian Digital Shadow Libraries

RuNet, the Russian segment of the internet is now the home of the most comprehensive scientific pirate libraries on the net. These sites offer free access to hundreds of thousands of books and millions of journal articles. In this contribution we try to understand the factors that led to the development of these sites, and the sociocultural and legal conditions that enable them to operate under hostile legal and political conditions. Through the reconstruction of the micro-histories of peer produced online text collections that played a central role in the history of RuNet, we are able to link the formal and informal support for these sites to the specific conditions developed under the Soviet and post Soviet times.