OSF Preprints | Illegal access to scholarly information: considerations regarding the use of sci-hub and its constraints to academic libraries

Abstract:  This work intends to study the influence that the use of sci-hub has on academic libraries, aiming to fill the gap of the risks that sci-hub might develop in academic libraries. Its purpose is to have a view between the interconnection of the library structure and the vulnerability that this undergoes when affected by an external factor, perceiving the long-term implications that the use of this platform has on academic library services. To reach these goals, it was conducted a narrative literature review on the academic library structure, the cause of the appearance of sci-hub and the increase of its popularity. Sci-hub has a direct influence on library circulation services. So, the conclusion is, since that academic libraries are living organisms, where all of their parts communicate with one another when one of their parts is damaged, the others will be resent as well, especially in the long term.