One of the dangers of the scientific publishing world are the so called pirate, or shadow, libraries. These are repositories that give researchers access to illegally obtained articles or ebooks.
Examples of pirate repositories are Sci-Hub, LibGen and Z-Library, the URLs to which are blocked by ANL's cybersecurity team. In addition, sharing sites like ResearchGate and academia.edu host articles posted by users, who may not have had permission to do so.
Pirate repositories often gain access to articles through the use of illicitly obtained login credentials from the students, faculty, and staff of universities and other research institutions.
The Argonne Research Library is able to provide electronic access to a vast number of scholarly publications. This access is regulated by license agreements with publishing companies, copyright laws of the United States, and various other policies and regulations. Violating these regulations can result in legal liability for the laboratory, as well as loss of access to the resources. This would have negative consequences for the scientific work performed at Argonne. Knowingly using pirated materials could also violate the laboratory's academic integrity policy.
In addition, sharing your ANL login credentials with unauthorized third parties puts the security of you and the lab at great risk. Doing so is prohibited and is a violation of the conditions of employment.
If you run up against paywalls in your research, check with an Argonne librarian first. It's possible that the library already has what you're looking for. In the event that the library does not have access, there are legitimate methods to go about getting what you require, usually at low cost.
If you are an author and want to share your work, but aren't sure how to make it accessible freely and legally, ask an Argonne librarian. Our publications team can help you find ways to distribute your work through legitimate means.
You can always reach an Argonne librarian via email at librarians@anl.gov.