> A lot of research ends up behind expensive paywalls and not accessible to the public.

Almost all research articles are currently available on [Sci-Hub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub), free of charge.

FYI [Bulk download Sci-Hub papers](http://opendata.stackexchange.com/q/7084/1652).

I would also point out that even in my university, which pay [millions of USD every year for journal subscriptions](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/29923/452), I do not have access to many articles. I.e., even researchers don't have access to the findings of their colleagues, unless they bypass paywalls with sci-hub or other similar services.