Wettbewerb im Akademischen Publikationsmarkt als Treiber für Diversität und Teilhabe im Wissenschaftsbetrieb <br> by W. Benedikt Schmal :: SSRN

From Google's English:  Abstract: The academic publishing market is characterized by the oligopolistic structure of the publishers that publish the journals. Two aspects are particularly striking: a few large commercial publishers have high market shares in almost all research disciplines. This is reflected in high subscription and publication costs. At the same time, the majority of the work for the journals is provided free of charge by the scientists. This paradox can be explained by the extraordinary importance of major journals for researchers, which the publishers convert into market power. While key stakeholders in the market are putting the topics of 'open access' and 'open science' on the agenda, I argue in this article that competition plays a key role in not only increasing economic efficiency, but also increasing diversity and participation of researchers. One exposed option would be to move away from the now established 'pay per article' system and back to subscription models.