Elsevier's defense of its actions inspires more anger over its journal policies | Inside Higher Ed

"Elsevier doesn't always respond in detail to criticism that advocates for open access direct at the journal publishing giant. Open-access supporters say publishing can have high academic quality and be free online without the high subscription prices Elsevier charges. The company says its critics underestimate the true costs of publishing. But this week, with Elsevier facing intense scrutiny over the resignation of all the editors and editorial board members of the journal Lingua, the company answered back with some specifics. But the answer -- and especially the claim that Elsevier founded the journal -- appears to have only intensified the criticism. While Elsevier has faced protest resignations in the past, this one has people talking, including people in the corporate world, not just the academic world. Fortune wrote of a 'mutiny' as evidence that 'cracks are widening in the fortress of academic publishing.' The editors of Lingua, one of the leading journals in linguistics, had asked Elsevier to turn over control of the journal to a collective of editors and to operate the journal under the principles of open access. In the response detailing why it would not do so, Elsevier gave this as one reason: 'Elsevier cannot agree to this as we have invested considerable amount of time, money and other resources into making it a respected journal in its field. We founded Lingua 66 years ago.' To Elsevier's critics, that answer distorted history ..."