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cgod · 4830 days ago · link · · parent · post: How did academic publishers acquire these feudal powers?
I've said to people that if I were Bill Gates rich and was looking for a good way to spend some money, I'd pay journals in my area of philanthropic interest to go free online. Every one I've suggested the idea too said it was stupid and would make no real difference, I think that it might spur innovation to a significant extent.
I was doing a Cost Benefit Analysis project for a local non-profit that had a few working economist in their research department. When I presented by work they were mildly interested in my results, but had a ton of questions about my source material, which were mostly academic papers that a mid size non-profit couldn't hope to buy access to. The fact that there were reams of pertinent papers on energy economics which working energy economists had no ability to read seemed a horrible waste of research and dollars.