people who think researchers are in "ivory towers" just never bothered to ask a scientist, or - worse - were too busy insulting them on the internet, unaware they were insulting real actual scientists, out of a belief the real scientists are hidden away in theiiirrr ivory tower.
not too long ago, i emailed an author about a skeleton, and he mailed me back a scientific paper; I've had them snail-mail me scientific papers just by asking - there's a paper-archive that links you up w scientists if their paper is paywalled, and you can ask them "can i haz?" and in most cases, yes - you CAN haz