Alexandra Elbakyan is a Kazakhstan-born, Russian-based computer programmer and scientific activist. A supporter of the open science movement and scien

Fighting for Communism in Science: An Interview with Alexandra Elbakyan

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2023-01-27 07:30:06

Alexandra Elbakyan is a Kazakhstan-born, Russian-based computer programmer and scientific activist. A supporter of the open science movement and scientific communism, Elbakyan has been referred to as “Science’s Pirate Queen.” In 2011, Elbakyan founded the shadow library Sci-Hub, providing free access to millions of research articles without regard to copyright and paywalls. Today, Sci-Hub receives over 600,000 daily visitors from across the globe. In 2016, she was named to Nature’s 10, an annual list of the “people who mattered” in science.

Neil Sehgal: Since its founding, Sci-Hub has achieved massive success in making science more open, but it’s still illegal in all countries. How do you think Sci-Hub might achieve lasting political change?

Alexandra Elbakyan: From the very beginning, it’s been my dream that Sci-Hub would facilitate long-lasting changes in the copyright laws that have been used to stop the free exchange of information online.

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