Oh absolutely. I agree. I don’t think anyone’s disputing that something about it needs to change.
Comment on He did though.
jol@discuss.tchncs.de 10 months agoBut it’s mostly a scam. The costs don’t remotely compare to the revenue. Reviewers time is not paid, and there’s a price to both publish and access. It’s all about the prestige to publish. If you contact the author directly they’ll typically gladly send you the article for free.
Sloogs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 10 months ago
The issue is partly that, over time, private entities are going to price gouge or take similar measures (see: “enshittification”) in order to keep growing as profit falls over time. That’s just how the profit motive works, it eventually optimizes everything for profit, not just what you are comfortable with having turned into a vehicle aimed solely at making money.
So yes, this and many other important things should be treated as public goods.
AeonFelis@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Not to mention that system started about four centuries ago, long before the Internet was invented. I’d assume that back then, the costs and effort of operating a journal really did justify the prices they charged.