Editing Elsevier (section)

=== Pricing ===
The subscription rates charged by the company for its journals have been criticized; some very large journals (with more than 5,000 articles) charge subscription prices as high as £9,634, far above average,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=29 August 2011|title=Academic publishers make Murdoch look like a socialist|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/academic-publishers-murdoch-socialist|journal=Guardian|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-date=7 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307174619/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/academic-publishers-murdoch-socialist|url-status=live}}</ref> and many British universities pay more than a million pounds to Elsevier annually.<ref>{{cite web|date=24 April 2014|title=Elsevier journals — some facts|url=https://gowers.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/elsevier-journals-some-facts/|access-date=27 July 2014|work=Gowers's Weblog|archive-date=2 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702112336/http://gowers.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/elsevier-journals-some-facts/|url-status=live}}</ref> The company has been criticized not only by advocates of a switch to the [[Open access (publishing)|open-access]] publication model, but also by universities whose library budgets make it difficult for them to afford current journal prices.

For example, in 2004, a resolution by [[Stanford University]]'s senate singled out Elsevier's journals as being "disproportionately expensive compared to their educational and research value", which librarians should consider dropping, and encouraged its faculty "not to contribute articles or editorial or review efforts to publishers and journals that engage in exploitive or exorbitant pricing".<ref>''[https://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2004/february25/minutes-225.html Faculty Senate minutes February 19 meeting] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315071807/http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2004/february25/minutes-225.html |date=15 March 2010 }}'' Stanford Report, 25 February 2004</ref> Similar guidelines and criticism of Elsevier's pricing policies have been passed by the [[University of California]], [[Harvard University]], and [[Duke University]].<ref>{{cite web|date=20 February 2004|title=Fac Sen addresses costly journals|url=https://archive.stanforddaily.com/?p=1013953|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105040316/https://archive.stanforddaily.com/?p=1013953|archive-date=5 November 2012|work=The Stanford Daily}}</ref>

In July 2015, the [[Association of Universities in the Netherlands]] <!-- (VSNU) --> threatened to boycott Elsevier, which refused to negotiate on any [[open access]] policy for Dutch universities.<ref>Kingsley, Danny. [https://unlockingresearch.blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=192 "Dutch boycott of Elsevier – a game changer?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831040458/https://unlockingresearch.blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=192 |date=31 August 2017 }}, University of Cambridge Office of Scholarly Communication</ref> After a year of negotiation, Elsevier pledged to make 30% of research published by Dutch researchers in Elsevier journals open access by 2018.<ref>{{cite web|date=11 December 2015|author=John Bohannon|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/unique-deal-elsevier-agrees-make-some-papers-dutch-authors-free|title=In unique deal, Elsevier agrees to make some papers by Dutch authors free|website=science.org|access-date=25 February 2024}}</ref>

In October 2018, a complaint against Elsevier was filed with the European Commission, alleging anticompetitive practices stemming from Elsevier's confidential subscription agreements and market dominance. The European Commission decided not to investigate.<ref name="competition_plaint">{{cite news|last1=Kelly|first1=Éanna|date=2 November 2018|title=Researchers complain to Brussels over 'dominant position' of RELX Group in scientific publishing|work=sciencebusiness.net|url=https://sciencebusiness.net/framework-programmes/news/researchers-complain-brussels-over-dominant-position-relx-group|access-date=16 January 2019|archive-date=16 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116100143/https://sciencebusiness.net/framework-programmes/news/researchers-complain-brussels-over-dominant-position-relx-group|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Price|first=Gary|date=30 October 2018|title=Full Text: Complaint Filed with EU Competition Authority Regarding "Anti-Competitive Practices" of RELX/Elsevier and the Wider Scholarly Publishing Market|url=https://www.infodocket.com/2018/10/30/full-text-complaint-filed-with-eu-competition-authority-regarding-relx-and-the-wider-scholarly-publishing-market/|access-date=2 February 2021|website=LJ infoDOCKET|archive-date=7 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307062104/https://www.infodocket.com/2018/10/30/full-text-complaint-filed-with-eu-competition-authority-regarding-relx-and-the-wider-scholarly-publishing-market/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The elevated pricing of field journals in economics, most of which are published by Elsevier, was one of the motivations that moved the [[American Economic Association]] to launch the ''[[American Economic Journal]]'' in 2009.<ref>Glenn, David (25 January 2008). [https://chronicle.com/article/American-Economic-Association/440 Chronicle.com "American Economic Association Plans 4 New Journals".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628193734/https://www.chronicle.com/article/American-Economic-Association/440 |date=28 June 2022 }} ''The Chronicle of Higher Education''.</ref>