With the world still grappling with the new coronavirus outbreak, an unofficial paywall-free archive of scientific papers is spreading hope, not disease, to the scientific community. Speaking with TF, the operators of the project reveal that since its launch under a week ago, visitors from all over the world to the 5,300+ study resource have consumed almost half a terabyte of bandwidth.

The idea that scientific papers and studies should be locked up behind a paywall is a tightly held belief among the world’s largest, richest publishers. To the founder of the infamous Sci-Hub – often known as The Pirate Bay of Science – that is objectionable to the point of being offensive to humanity.

Granting free access to scientific knowledge for the benefit of all mankind is a growing movement. As reported here last December, people such as an archivist known as ‘shrine’ are now adding significant momentum to the cause, one that a few weeks ago received a specific calling.

Having made almost continuous headlines all around the planet this year, the Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak needs little introduction. At the time of writing, it has infected at least 31,500 people in 28 countries, killing more than 630. Preventing its spread is now a global matter and while doctors and scientists do their work, people like ‘shrine’ are doing their part to assist.

A few days ago, a thread appeared on Reddit announcing the creation of an unofficial database of coronavirus-related papers and studies.

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