Sci-Hub Working Links 2026: Verified Mirrors & Access Guide

4 Active Sci-Hub Website Links Checked: February 2, 2026:

Sci-hub is also known as Sci Hub founded by Alexandra Elbakyan. It is a site that provides users of the United States of America (USA) and others free access to articles, research papers, journals, and books that otherwise might not be accessible to them. It has a database of nearly 88,343,822 research papers, articles, and books.

It utilizes multiple mirror domains because some sites are unavailable in certain regions. So, check out the reported working mirrors and find which one is working in specific regions without a VPN.

The above-mentioned links are working.

Steps to Access Papers from Sci-Hub

Researchers typically use the following steps to retrieve academic materials through the platform:

  1. Find the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) of the article or book and copy it by searching on Google or Google Scholar in any browser like Chrome.
  2. Then open a working mirror and paste the complete DOI.
  3. Just by clicking the open button in the portal, it will show you the PDF version of the paper and you can retrieve the document.
Sci-hub downloading steps

If you need further information, you can check how to use the sci-hub guide for detailed guidance.

Steps to Access Books

Researchers often use the following steps to retrieve a book using the platform:

  1. Find the ISBN of the Book and copy it.
  2. Enter that number into the search bar of a working mirror.
  3. Then click on “Open”; it will provide the digital version if it is available in the collection.

Where is Sci Hub?

This is a common question asked by several users because the project utilizes multiple mirrors, and after some time, mirror domains frequently change. Above, I have listed the links that are active now in 2026. Among the above sites, some of them have been active since 2023, while others are recently verified. Nowadays, it is accessible via various sites other than the original domain to provide unrestricted access to scientific research all over the world.

Core Objective

The main purpose of Sci Hub is to make knowledge, especially scientific knowledge, accessible to all students, researchers, and teachers who cannot afford the high subscription costs of academic literature, especially medicine-related literature. It is addressing accessibility gaps in the humanities by providing paywalled research articles to underfunded researchers and those in developing regions for free.

Is Sci Hub Safe?

Using verified mirrors is generally considered safe for retrieving academic PDFs, provided users follow security best practices. To maintain security while using the platform, consider the following:

  • Make sure the mirror is recently verified.
  • Always download the PDF version of the file. Verified mirrors typically only provide a PDF file of the article. If a site offers you another format, such as .exe or .zip, avoid that domain entirely.
  • Do not share personal information or login credentials, as the platform only requires a DOI number to provide you with your requested research materials.

FAQs

This platform focuses exclusively on academic articles and textbooks. To access newspaper content, researchers are encouraged to visit the official websites of the respective news publishers.

This typically indicates that the requested paper has not yet been indexed in the collection. Unavailability is common for very recent articles due to technical embargoes or ongoing legal restrictions. In these cases, researchers often find success by checking again after a short indexing delay or by searching for a “Green Open Access” version on Google Scholar.