Today, the ubiquity and expansion of the Internet—in various capacities including communication, resource access, and its application as a tool in diverse professions—have transformed it from a secondary role into an essential and inseparable component of these activities. During the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, public access and the access of professionals, including researchers, to the Internet and related technologies were restricted due to national policies and decision-making.

This study aims to examine the impact of internet deprivation on the research community during the “Ramadan War,” analyzing its effects on the research process and the professional activities of scholars. To conduct this research, interviews were carried out with researchers until theoretical saturation was reached. Subsequently, using thematic analysis, the themes and categories of these interviews were extracted, focusing on the impacts of the Internet on the research process and the professional lives of researchers.

In the findings section, five main categories were identified: “The Impact of War on Life Routines,” “Offline Research Activity,” “Deficiencies in Research Activity,” “The Necessity of Institutional Support,” and “Changes in Research Style Influenced by War.” By establishing connections between these categories, the concept of “Research Castration” (or Research Impotence) was derived in relation to the lack of access to the free Internet. This concept signifies that due to the researchers’ lack of access to the Internet, the research process has faced severe challenges across various dimensions, including theoretical production, methodology, and the publication of articles. This highlights the critical interdependence between access to the free Internet and the production of research, underscoring the necessity of revising and implementing new policies for researchers in similar circumstances.