Thank you for the request to review an article.
My usual reviewing fee for Elsevier journals is one full year of free access to your digital library for my university.
However, Elsevier has locked out German universities from accessing research on their websites, including our own. So in addition to my usual fee I must also ask that you return to the negotiating table and find a way that we can access our research again.
The predatory pricing of Elsevier reduces the access of developing nations to advances in the sciences. Some libraries may not be able to afford your journals at all. Europe, and in particular The Netherlands, has a horrifying history of colonialism. By working for Elsevier, you are continuing colonialism with new means.
By aiding the hiding of research from the public, you have slowed the pace of scientific discovery and communication, including in the medical sciences. Medical tools, procedures, and vaccines will now become available later than possible due to your supporting actions. People will be worse off and some people will die.
Please stop. Now. Join the ranks of many esteemed colleagues who have put down their position and left Elsevier.
Please be healthy and safe in these trying times,
Dirk Riehle
Leave a Reply