
Sci-Bay: Google Scholar plus Sci-Hub - mycoborea
https://sci-bay.org/
======
bringtheaction
Just tested it by searching for “spline”. This is great! Can someone elaborate
on how it was made? Specifically, how it integrates with Google Scholar. Is
that done client side or server side? If server side how come it hasn’t been
blocked by Google seeing as Google don’t seem to like robots using their
regular search function so my guess would be they wouldn’t like it for Scholar
either. Perhaps it is proxying requests and would also pass on any CAPTCHAs
presented? Still in that case I would expect all requests to get hit with a
CAPTCHA. Perhaps it just hasn’t had enough traffic yet?

------
samat
This reminds me of Popcorn time so much.

Rightholders do not fear torrents as long as they are unusable for the general
population.

The second they see something usable — they go berserk.

Gonna need some popcorn to watch this one.

~~~
Vinnl
Likewise, the traditional publishers often respond to demands by funders to
make research available by e.g. allowing researchers to share their work
elsewhere, and often only after a year or so after publication [0]. This makes
the barrier to do so higher, and makes the research less findable. It's not
odd to expect that when initiatives like Unpaywall [1] make that research more
discoverable, things like embargo periods will get worse.

[0] [https://medium.com/flockademic/how-open-can-open-access-
be-c...](https://medium.com/flockademic/how-open-can-open-access-be-
cf6662565ecd)

[1] [https://unpaywall.org/](https://unpaywall.org/)

------
lsh
If sci-hub is going to scrape OA publishers, they could put in a bit more
effort.

For example this (which sucks): [https://sci-
bay.org/article?link=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go...](https://sci-
bay.org/article?link=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4559886/&info=T5ySYQkNqxIJ&scirp=0&k=a&pd=&citn=176&cit=1345183247643089999)

Versus the actual article:
[https://elifesciences.org/articles/24234](https://elifesciences.org/articles/24234)

~~~
n4r9
I think the issue is with sci-bay rather than sci-hub. Searching sci-hub for
the title of the article brings you to the second webpage you linked.

------
agumonkey
reminder that this went up not long ago
[https://whereisscihub.herokuapp.com](https://whereisscihub.herokuapp.com)

~~~
Vinnl
Thanks for sharing; note that I've moved that to a somewhat simpler URL:
[https://whereisscihub.now.sh/](https://whereisscihub.now.sh/)

I should also add that I am also working on a project to incentivising authors
to make their work freely available:
[https://flockademic.com/](https://flockademic.com/)

(More info here: [https://medium.com/p/the-holy-grail-in-open-access-
sharing-t...](https://medium.com/p/the-holy-grail-in-open-access-sharing-that-
benefits-authors-b685ff2c6300) )

~~~
Aelius
Sci hub seems like the perfect candidate for ipfs, I'm astounded the mirrors
haven't implementated that yet.

~~~
JustFinishedBSG
We just need decentralized DNS for sci-hub, storage isn't needed (right now).

Plus sci-hub storage requirements are pretty big, >75 Tb...

------
jrochkind1
Google Scholar definitely and intentionally offers no API.

I don't see this lasting long...

~~~
gpm
At a glance it looks like it's really just a proxy, that was limited to
scholar.google.com and mutates the page slightly (adds a header, sci-hub
links).

Does google generally block proxy servers?

~~~
Vinnl
I'd imagine that would be quite hard: many university libraries have their own
proxies which make sure that visitors to the library are able to access the
content that the library has paid for, and often modifies Google Scholar (with
their cooperation, I believe) to list links to accessible versions of the
content next to search results.

------
moomin
This is a clever mashup. Of course, if you want it to last a week, I'd be
making some effort to distribute the source far and wide...

------
PokemonNoGo
I'm sorry but I don't see how it works?

>[https://sci-
bay.org/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=entropy+sha...](https://sci-
bay.org/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=entropy+shannon&btnG=)

-> Please show you're not a robot

------
xstartup
It works well, OT: Anyone knows how to remove the top header in this Scihub
link:

[https://sci-bay.org/article?link=https://pdfs.semanticschola...](https://sci-
bay.org/article?link=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/88d6/33703f6c58c54a3dc8140767b9fd7ae19ed2.pdf&info=simZbOimsdwJ&scirp=2&k=a&pd=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/88d6/33703f6c58c54a3dc8140767b9fd7ae19ed2.pdf&citn=105&cit=15902675276406532530)

~~~
gpm
Download the pdf, open it in your browser (or another pdf reader) directly.

------
Myrmornis
I'm 100% in favour of sci-hub.

However, note that they are very anarchic when it comes to commercial books,
not just journal articles!

E.g. from the Sci-Bay search results, this is $131 on amazon.com, and quite
possibly the authors do want the royalties.

[BOOK] Intelligent optimisation techniques: genetic algorithms, tabu search,
simulated annealing and neural networks D Pham, D Karaboga - 2012 -
books.google.com ... Cited by 916 Related articles All 3 versions [Download
Book]

~~~
gkya
I believe people in academia are paid to write these books anyways, so they
might as well not receive the royalties. As a prospective academic myself, I
find it unethical.

~~~
dagw
_I believe people in academia are paid to write these books anyways_

While that does occasionally happen, it's definitely not true in general. The
people I know who wrote academic books did so by taking a sabbatical from
their university job and/or working evenings and weekends for the actual
writing. Occasionally they can apply for a separate writing grant to cover
their lost salary, but that's completely separate from their day job.

~~~
gkya
What I meant was their _job_ is to author such books. Not that they should be
paid separately for them. Depending on the country academicians might be
underpaid, but that's an issue on its own.

~~~
dagw
_What I meant was their job is to author such books_

Except in many cases it isn't. Most of the people I know who have written
academic books did so off the clock and on their own time. Sure the university
let them use their university office and resources, and obviously much of the
research the book is based on is research they'd already done as part of their
job, but the actual writing time and any additional research they had to
finance from sources unrelated to their university job.

------
abhishekjha
Is the website down? It just says "too much attention" caused it to shut down.

------
petra
How did you integrate scholar in sci-bay ? Does scholar have an API ?

And about the future, how do you see google responding?

~~~
shakna
I don't know how they are doing it, but Google Scholar does not have an API,
and scraping is against their TOS.

> Don’t misuse our Services. For example, don’t interfere with our Services or
> try to access them using a method other than the interface and the
> instructions that we provide.

Despite this, there is scholar.py [0], which can extract files from Google
Scholar, though it explicitly doesn't work around the rate limits.

[0]
[https://github.com/ckreibich/scholar.py](https://github.com/ckreibich/scholar.py)

~~~
userbinator
_or try to access them using a method other than the interface_

Unless this actually exploits something and hacks into Google's servers to get
to the content, which would be something quite different, it wouldn't really
be distinguishable from someone manually visiting the site in a browser,
volume aside.

IMHO the pervasive attitude today of somehow requiring permission or an
explicitly sanctioned "API" to access what is otherwise publicly accessible
data is rather troubling for the freedom and flexibility of the Web as a
whole. It encourages walled-garden content models and centralisation.

~~~
shakna
I absolutely agree. If something is publicly accessible then the public should
be able to use it as they see fit, from my viewpoint. (A HTTP response has
already authorised you to copy the data to a machine. How can it be bound by a
TOS that you need to access the original page to find?)

However, Google doesn't agree and the current court precedent doesn't either.
So I tried to address the parent's concern from that viewpoint.

------
s2th4d
And it's down.

"See you later Too much attention is a bad thing, Sci-Bay decides to stop
service for a while. Sorry. Anyone who knows how Sci-Bay works and wishes this
tool benefits more academics, please contact: info@sci-bay.org"

------
aysus
BarOn, R. (1997). EQ-i Baron Emotional Quotient Inventory: A Measure of
Emotional Intelligence : Technical Manual. Toronto, ON: MHS.

------
jmnicholson
How is this any better than using the sci-hub plugin?

------
rkskejfj
Beyond close vs. distant ties: Understanding post-service sharing of
information with close, exchange, and hybrid ties

------
lihan
We'll see how long this one last.

------
irundebian
Aaaaand it's down.

------
tomrod
Oh, this is wonderful!

------
eruci
It does not work.

------
Tomminn
Honeypot?

------
fwgwgwgch
Can someone help dispel my ethical concerns over using papers like this? Eg
sci-hub.

Any and all arguments, on both sides are very welcome.

~~~
Mononokay
It allows for open-access of the epitome of human progress, which is something
unavailable to low-income communities. It's copying data, not stealing from a
museum, so it's not as if any journal is losing much, if anything.

There's no real ethical downside - allowing people who wouldn't normally have
access to research helps to reduce inequality, and allows human progress to
advance a lot quicker than if it weren't open. There are brilliant people of
which have no access to research, who could - and would - more likely do
something with it than not.

Given that we all pay for science, [0] from people in the lowest drudges of
poverty, to people in the highest skyscrapers in New York, we should all have
access to it. Imagine you paid taxes meant to improve roads in your area, but
ended up going to a place hundreds of miles away from you. You'll never get to
use these roads, and you'll be told you're unethical and unlawful if you even
_consider_ using them. It wouldn't be very fair, would it?

[0]
[https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/who_pays](https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/who_pays)

~~~
Fins
One could easily come up with quite a few ethical arguments against Sci-Hub --
it's there to stick it to the "West". It has nothing to do with science, human
progress, or anything as lofty. Basically, just another department of the
Olgino Troll Factory.

That it lets you freely access some scientific materials regardless of whether
the rights owner (or authors, for that matter) agree to it or not is just a
minor side-effect.

~~~
folli
If the Scientific Publication Mafia is your definition of the "West", then,
yes, let's stick it to the "West".

Anyway, is there any proof that Sci-Hub is part of the Kremlbots, besides
Alexandra Elbakyan being from Kazakhstan?

~~~
SXX
She have strong pro-Putin view and tend to ban anyone who dont agree with her,
even banned all Russian IPs from Sci-Hub last year because of some political
discussions on social networks.

Though this doesn't change the fact project itself is very useful and
obviously it's her own personality problems rather than some conspiracy.

~~~
skrebbel
She obviously doesn't share the NYTimes Western Standard World View, but to
say that blocking all Russian IPs is pro-putin is a bit of a shortcut, no? The
world isn't just "pro west" vs "pro Putin" and from what I can tell, Elbakyan
has a nuanced standpoint.

~~~
Fins
Her viewpoint contradicts pretty much everything that is good and decent in
the world (and really, being a communist in XXI century is just as inspiring
as being a neonazi).

Sci-hub is there to "expropriate the expropriators" in Lenin's words. That
there is some wider benefit to the community is completely secondary.

~~~
SXX
> Sci-hub is there to "expropriate the expropriators" in Lenin's words. That
> there is some wider benefit to the community is completely secondary.

While you can see my opinion on her personality above I still think you going
into extremes regarding the project itself. Keep in mind that she is just end
up being face of the project, but there more people working on it, and
maintaining Library Genesis too, and dealing with risk of getting into prison
for the service they provide to everyone.

~~~
Fins
> but there more people working on it, and maintaining Library Genesis too,
> and dealing with risk of getting into prison for the service they provide to
> everyone.

So... one could go to prison for doing something that is explicitly illegal in
most countries of the world, just so that the "face of the project" can preen
about "standing up to the West", and fighting foreign enemies of the people,
with the only risk to her being that Putin suddenly does a 180 and she's too
slow on the uptake... Or one could, say, work on a viable long-term solution.
Maybe setting up a wiki-like, peer-reviewed alternative publication scheme or
something.

While the project _does_ provide some benefit (which is not Elbakyan's goal),
I just believe that the problem should be solved in an entirely different way
-- you should start at the publishing side, not distribution side.

~~~
SXX
Yes they doing illegal things, her goals might be horrible or or awful and you
might have right ideas. Problem is that all around the globe scientist need
this problem solved ASAP and they need access to papers today, right now.

It's enough that few companies like Disney absolutely abused copyright. Yet we
can live with it as long as it's just entertainment. Ok, they also put some
horrible broken crap like DRM and DMCA and bunch of other things in our lives.
Still it's not very important and might be after 10 years it's will be fixed
somehow.

This is not the case for science. I can't even explain how wrong it could be
to delay progress for years until "proper solution" is there. It's simply not
acceptable. Sci-Hub might be illegal crutch, but it's important to have it.

I think good analogy for Sci-Hub would be Uber. It's might be absolutely
hateful company for many here on HN that break every rule imaginable. Yet it's
significally improved quality of life for millions of people and pushed taxi
companies all around the globe to improve service.

PS: Also if you live in the US you might truly don't understand problems Sci-
Hub solve, but there are people in ex-USSR who doing science on salary of $300
/ month and they have no budget whatsoever on any papers. It's that bad. Yet
some of these people still contribute.

~~~
Fins
Being _from_ exUSSR, and knowing quite a few people who are trying to do
science there, I would say that the whole Dynasty incident perfectly
demonstrates what Sci-Hub (or Elbakyan at least, but she's Sci-Hub's public
face, so same difference...) is about. Progress of humankind it ain't.

I also don't think this is the case when ends justify the means. But stealing
is much easier than trying to change copyright laws, let alone setting up a
proper alternative publishing system, so there we have it.

------
k5hp
Interesting that Hacker News allows links to pirate sites... This will
probably get removed soon

~~~
veridies
I wouldn't think Hacker News would be in any trouble with this one. The link
is to a noteworthy site, not to any infringing content; you'd have to take
action and use a specific search term to find copyrighted content. And the
implication of posting it is clearly that people should find it interesting
and discuss it, not that they should use it to download articles.

~~~
zeth___
And it's not like searching in google scholar, getting the doi and putting it
in scihub was any great hardship before.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
A guy in the UK got extradited to USA for making a web page with links to
sites that hosted copyright material ... YMMV.

[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120113/09184917400/us-
to...](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120113/09184917400/us-to-extradite-
uk-student-copyright-infringement-despite-site-being-legal-uk.shtml)

