4 ms·

I spent 15 years in academia and now work with dozens of former academics. In all my time, I don't think I've ever met a single person who didn't loathe the jou

by davidmr 10y ago

I spent 15 years in academia and now work with dozens of former academics. In all my time, I don't think I've ever met a single person who didn't loathe the journal system from top to bottom, and that includes at least a couple journal editors. I seethe in anger every time something I'm looking into ends in a IEEE or other journal who militantly police arXiv preprints. The day we bury the last for-profit closed access journal will be a momentous day in the history of science.

trendia 10y ago
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.
- snthd 10y ago
  Interesting. Maybe a court could find the contract between a researcher and the publisher to be unconscionable - and therefore non-binding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscionability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscionability
- anon4this1 10y ago
  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.
- jcranmer 10y ago
  Note that in general, you either need to pay to submit the article xor pay to read the article, almost never do you need to do both.
- Chris2048 10y ago
  Do the original authors still own the copyrights?
sitkack 10y ago
Not to mention IEEE standards association running a really profitable toll booth for global technology standards. They should be funded by the UN and made completely open.

by davidmr 10y ago

trendia 10y ago

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.

snthd 10y ago
Interesting. Maybe a court could find the contract between a researcher and the publisher to be unconscionable - and therefore non-binding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscionability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscionability
anon4this1 10y ago
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.
jcranmer 10y ago
Note that in general, you either need to pay to submit the article xor pay to read the article, almost never do you need to do both.
Chris2048 10y ago
Do the original authors still own the copyrights?

sitkack 10y ago

Not to mention IEEE standards association running a really profitable toll booth for global technology standards. They should be funded by the UN and made completely open.