The latest articles on DEV Community by mahmood al-dulaimi (@mahmood_aldulaimi_fe3d98). https://dev.to/mahmood_aldulaimi_fe3d98 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4142744%2Fec184942-4edb-4809-a75c-1c6ce58a522a.jpg https://dev.to/mahmood_aldulaimi_fe3d98 en mahmood al-dulaimi Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:48:24 +0000 https://dev.to/mahmood_aldulaimi_fe3d98/i-built-a-free-sci-hub-alternative-from-iraq-250m-papers-no-paywall-mf3 https://dev.to/mahmood_aldulaimi_fe3d98/i-built-a-free-sci-hub-alternative-from-iraq-250m-papers-no-paywall-mf3 <h2> Why I built this </h2> <p>I'm Ehsan from Baghdad, Iraq. At my university, accessing research is hard:</p> <ul> <li>$35 per paper is a month's salary</li> <li>Sci-Hub is blocked</li> <li>Google Scholar often hits paywalls</li> </ul> <p>So I built <strong>ScholarAI Pro</strong>.</p> <h2> What it does </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>250M+ papers</strong> via OpenAlex API (same as Semantic Scholar)</li> <li><strong>100% free, no login required</strong></li> <li> <strong>AI summaries</strong> for every paper</li> <li> <strong>Direct PDF download</strong> when available</li> <li> <strong>Now indexed on Google</strong> - sitemap fixed this week</li> </ul> <h2> Tech Stack </h2> <ul> <li>Next.js 14 on Vercel</li> <li>OpenAlex + Semantic Scholar APIs</li> <li>Vercel Analytics shows: USA 44%, Germany 24%, Iraq 17%, Canada 15%</li> <li>89% desktop traffic = real researchers</li> </ul> <h2> Live Demo </h2> <p>🌐 <a href="https://scholarai-pro-final.vercel.app" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://scholarai-pro-final.vercel.app</a></p> <p>Product Hunt: <a href="https://www.producthunt.com/posts/scholarai-pro" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.producthunt.com/posts/scholarai-pro</a></p> <h2> What I learned </h2> <p>Reddit banned my posts, Indie Hackers requires old account, Hacker News temporarily blocks Show HN. So I'm here on DEV - the only place that lets new builders share immediately.</p> <p>I'm looking for feedback, especially from US students/researchers:</p> <ul> <li>Does this solve a real problem for you?</li> <li>What features would make it 10x better?</li> </ul> <p>No ads, no paywall, just trying to make research accessible.</p> <p>Thanks for reading! 🙏</p> ai nextjs showdev webdev