In recent months, so-called “pirate” sites such as Sci-Hub have gained attention for providing easy access to any scholarly journal article, without regard to the user’s subscription status, and without requiring payment. This activity often infringes on the copyright in the articles, which is generally held by publishers. Librarians have been quick to recognize that sites such as this are illegal, but nevertheless these sites remain popular This class will explore the issues of academic resource access, including discussion of why these sites are popular, and who benefits and who is harmed by illegal access to scholarly work. We’ll also discuss how you, as a scholar, can ensure that you can retain the copyright in your work and make your work openly accessible regardless of publisher or pirate motives in the scholarly communication landscape.

Learning objectives:

• Define and identify a “pirate” scholarly website
• Understand the basics of traditional (legal) access to scholarly publications
• Understanding of options for making one’s own scholarly work available openly and legally

No registration is needed. Contact Fred Rascoe for further information or questions.