> How do universities have “sweetheart deals” with Elsevier? All I’ve heard is universities complain about the cost of subscriptions. If you think the cost of

> How do universities have “sweetheart deals” with Elsevier? All I’ve heard is universities complain about the cost of subscriptions. If you think the cost of a subscription is high for universities, which have huge endowments that are invested in all kinds of assets (I have seen it commented that major universities in the US are really hedge funds that happen to do teaching and research on the side), imagine what it's like for individuals with no academic affiliation who just want to see what their tax money is actually funding. In other words, the "sweetheart deal" is being able to afford the subscription at all, given that in practice open access does not happen.