24 votes

Sci-Net: A new social network platform to request and share research articles

1 comment

  1. Fal
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    I regularly receive requests from Sci-Hub users to help them download some paper that cannot be opened through Sci-Hub. The number of such requests increased in the past two years, since Sci-Hub database updates were paused. The opposite also happens: users ask whether they can upload to Sci-Hub some paper that they have bought or downloaded via university subscription.

    Introducing Sci-Net

    The user interface is simple: an input box where a DOI of the requested paper should be inserted. Once the user clicks the button, Sci-Net automatically checks if the requested paper is open access or already available on Sci-Hub. If the paper is found, the link to it will be displayed. If not, then user will be able to create a new request.

    On the index page, the list of requests is shown, that can be filtered by subjects and publisher. If you happen to have access to some paper in the list, you can click on the request and upload the PDF. There is a nice built-in functionality to remove watermarks from PDF to hide the university where paper was downloaded. That way Sci-Net protects the anonymity of the uploader.

    9 votes