On November 12, 2018, Jon Tennat launched the United4Education campaign in Taipei with a report on how Elsevier is "putting at risk" the future of research:

 “It is difficult to argue against the positions that research knowledge should be a public good, and can also be of incredible use in fighting against some of the larger problems that face our planet and society, such as energy, food and water security, climate change, and access to education.

 In spite of this, most scholarly research still remains firmly in the hands of a few private corporations, and is not being used in the best interests of the public good.

A recent report on behalf of Education International (EI) focused on this issue in the context of the practices of one of the largest scholarly publishers, Elsevier.

 Their primary business model is based on exclusion and knowledge discrimination, to the detriment of all but the wealthiest or most academically privileged members of society. They are now becoming increasingly powerful in the political domain, while simultaneously commercialising many critical components of research infrastructure.

They are also infamous in consistently gaining profit margins in the region of 37%, much acquired from public expenditures, and also for vigorously fighting against progress in the global Open Science movement.

One consequence of the control that Elsevier has in the scholarly communication ecosystem, in particular through research evaluation processes, is the constraints on academic freedoms, especially over choice of publication venue.

As a direct impact of the ongoing ‘publish or perish’ culture, something perpetuated by Elsevier as well as research institutes, academics themselves, and research funders, academic working conditions have become competitively unhealthy.

Researchers now typically engage in a range of ‘questionable research practices’ in the hunt for the glory of publication, with such conditions leading to mental health issues in a higher proportion than any other industry.”

Elsevier is putting the future of scientific research at risk".

Please, it is a revised OA Italia news