Numerous journals offer access to researchers, campuses, etc., through various systems.  These are either individually authenticated, or are offered through campus-wide systems.<p>My understanding is that Sci-Hub works through &quot;donated&quot; access -- either credentials or inside-the-firewall systems -- through which it can request papers.  There are other options for feeding papers into the system as well, and once they&#x27;re inside, they&#x27;re then available.  Given that most disciplines tend to have a few highly-cited papers, and a standard Zipf &#x2F; Power curve, starting with the most relevant papers and working down will get you a lot of coverage.<p>You&#x27;ve still got to keep up with new publications, but that&#x27;s tractable.<p>Elsevier would have to deny access to entire academic institutions, or highly-placed researchers.  Given they&#x27;re already in a hot seat, that&#x27;s a risky proposition.