If they weren't making a profit, they wouldn't act the same way; for example, if they weren't making a profit, they wouldn't have any incentive to publish vanit

If they weren't making a profit, they wouldn't act the same way; for example, if they weren't making a profit, they wouldn't have any incentive to publish vanity journals. > And again, there is nothing stopping anyone else from starting their own journal. If they fail, then authors and readers must find some value in the current situation. Publishing in a journal with a low impact factor isn't nearly as worthwhile as publishing in one with a higher impact factor, which implies a strong lock-in effect which works on Elsevier's favor. Even if Elsevier weren't around, a new journal would have a hard time getting off the ground.