China must unblock Google Scholar and keep the internet open for its researchers

Paul Stapleton says denying students and scholars in mainland China access to a good research tool like Google Scholar only impedes scientific progress

A doctor operates on a patient with a surgical robot in Hefei, Anhui. When it comes to advancing scientific knowledge, our differences should be set aside in the understanding that research is for the common good of humanity. Photo: Reuters

Most people are familiar with the various free applications available on the internet. Google gives us Gmail and Google Photos, for example, in exchange for our eyeballs, which can be targeted for advertising.

One Google application that many are probably not so familiar with is Google Scholar. Using it, which is free, has added great convenience to the lives of researchers. Type in the name of a scholarly author or keyword and it quickly generates pages of links to research articles by the author or to the most cited articles associated with the keyword.

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