“The big scientific publishers keep costs low because academics write up their research – typically funded by charities and the public purse – for free.”
More than 40 editors quit Neuroimage after Elsevier refused to cut a fee of over £2,700 per paper. Elsevier made £2.9bn last year on margins near 40%. The public funds the research, academics write and review it for free, and then pay to publish it. Elsevier calls that fee “below the market average.” The market is the problem.