At least in my case, Sci-Hub was the difference between getting access to research and not -- and I'm based in the UK. I've requested papers through public lib

At least in my case, Sci-Hub was the difference between getting access to research and not -- and I'm based in the UK. I've requested papers through public library inter-library loan services on a number of occasions, and on nearly every occasion was told "that paper/journal doesn't exist". Every single time, the article was sat online behind a paywall. I don't have access to my alma mater's library and even if I did, I couldn't request research papers through them as a graduate (which is why I didn't pay the yearly alumni society membership and access fee). So when the option is to pay £20 per page for a short summary article or get nothing -- you can bet I'll be hitting up Scihub.