this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2024
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I wonder whether this is because the subscription method was overpriced compared to the number of articles they actually accessed or if academics are now just thinking twice about whether they really need to access a particular article if it's not easy and "free". I've certainly downloaded articles I never actually got around to reading.
It's still wild that universities don't just en masse refuse to use the for-profit journals. They services they provide could easily be managed and funded by a university consortium. They just need to actually make the leap.
I doubt it accounts for much, but a lot of authors pay up front now for open access. If the majority of authors did that, then subscriptions wouldn't make sense for most people. I don't think it's anywhere near the majority of publications now though.