French Government Takes 172 Million Euros From Citizens To Pay Publisher For Access To Research Public Already Paid For Once | Techdirt

"It's all about priorities. Those providing the valuable research will have to learn to do without because the publishers must be paid. France may not have any money left for its universities but it does have money for academic publishers. While university presidents learn that their funding is to be reduced by EUR 400 million, the Ministry of Research has decided, under great secrecy, to pay EUR 172 million to the world leader in scientific publishing Elsevier. If the name Elsevier rings a bell, it's because the academic publishing giant has dragged its own dubious reputation through the mud with alarming frequency over the past several years ..."