cross-posted from: https://feddit.it/post/238648
The entire academic board of the journal ‘Neuroimage’, including professors from Oxford University, King’s College London and Cardiff University resigned after Elsevier refused to reduce publication charges. Academics around the world have applauded what many hope is the start of a rebellion against the huge profit margins in academic publishing, which outstrip those made by Apple, Google and Amazon.
Honestly, I don’t quite get how there are still publications being done through these publishers. IMHO that makes me suspect some sort of under the table kickbacks to the authors of the study or the institution. Anything published in a non-Open Access publication should automatically be flagged for conflict of interest for kickbacks from the publisher to the authors.
Authors don’t get paid for their submissions. As I understand it, a lot of the professional societies are the actual owners of the journals in their respective fields, and have a profit sharing arrangement with publishers. Here is an example of the American Sociological Association, which owns the flagship US sociology journals opposing open science initiatives because they might hurt their bottom line. https://familyinequality.wordpress.com/2019/12/20/asas-letter-against-the-public-interest-and-our-values/
Mindblowing! So much for advancing and protecting the interests of the field. It’s scary that some of these associations are also regulators!
