Research is largely conducted in two areas: 1. In academic institutions where grants are the core source of funding. In order to get funding (and extensions o

Research is largely conducted in two areas: 1. In academic institutions where grants are the core source of funding. In order to get funding (and extensions of it) you need to have publications (the more the better) in "high impact" journals. Over the years these journals have become the property of big publishing companies - hence the profit motive and the paywalls. 2. In industry labs, research findings are a source of competitive advantage and thus carefully guarded to maximise profit and to obstruct potential competitors. Patent protection is typically sought out as soon as any results from research are patentable. In principle scientists share their findings, but the organisations that they work within are motivated by the usual business imperatives. Once you are employed in academia, you have good access to the paywalled material. Depending upon your field of interest there may be some open access resources available. Furthermore, if you directly contact authors and ask nicely, they might send you copies of their work on a P2P basis.