Information Wants to be Free, But Academic Publications Do Not | 2016 | Elaine's Idle Mind

"It costs $76,140 for a one-year subscription to the collection of IEEE technology journals. $58,645 for online-only access. That’s a bit steep for most people, which is why individual articles can be downloaded for $33 apiece. What a racket. But what are you gonna do, drive to the public library and check out the latest issue of IEEE Transactions on Information Theory? Good luck with that. Academic publishing is a for-profit enterprise, and there is very much profit. A few years ago, Harvard University notably whined about the high price of journal subscriptions. Come on, no one feels sorry for you Harvard. Slightly more sympathetic are the international universities that don’t have Harvard’s bankroll and can’t afford $3.75 million in subscription fees. Publishers sometimes negotiate a discounted price for the lesser-endowed...."