Many people outside academia assume that researchers receive some sort of financial benefit when their paper is distributed, read, or bought for $35 on Elsevier.
But in fact, the publishing companies receive money from both the researcher and the reader. They charge the researcher up to $1,500 to publish the article, and then they extract money from the readers by charging a subscription fee to their institution (which constitute a large portion of the library budget).
Not even the editors or reviewers receive any financial compensation -- they often volunteer their time for the peer-review process.
The entire procedure and profit extraction is a disgrace.
Elsevier look like a ripe target for a worldwide campaign to cancel access to their journals unless fees arnt dropped.
Germany are (have?) Pulled access, some other south american countries have also with local academics saying that everyone uses sci-hub for everything anyway.
Could be a good target for an activist hedge fund investor to short the stock and attack the company.
But in fact, the publishing companies receive money from both the researcher and the reader. They charge the researcher up to $1,500 to publish the article, and then they extract money from the readers by charging a subscription fee to their institution (which constitute a large portion of the library budget).
Not even the editors or reviewers receive any financial compensation -- they often volunteer their time for the peer-review process.
The entire procedure and profit extraction is a disgrace.