We just had a discussion about this in the library a week ago. It seems to me that all those fees are going to the brand name, like Dr. Monbiot was saying. Similar to the reason why the same shirt at Saks costs much less at Target; we're paying for the brand name that the shirt holds. Unfortunately, you'll be lucky to find the same article in both Elsevier and an open-access journal. Asia Murphy Senior Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology North Carolina State University
> Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 22:10:11 -0400 > From: [email protected] > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Is academic publishing a racket? > To: [email protected] > > Dear Ecologers, > > A lab mate sent me a link to a newspaper article that I feel deserves > further discussion. In Brad Boyle's own words, it is 'a provocative and > important article in The Guardian on the racket of academic publishing': > http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/academic-publishers- > murdoch-socialist. > Also, see the original blog by George Monbiot: > http://www.monbiot.com/2011/08/29/the-lairds-of-learning/ for more > discussion on the topic. > > Are we really all being ripped off, or is this just another paranoia? If > academic publishers are indeed parasites, how do we break the vicious cycle > given that we do build our careers on publishing in high-end journals? Can > open access journals ever become 'high-end'? > > Julie Messier > > -- > PhD Candidate, > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology > University of Arizona
