Peer-reviewed journal articles are the perfect business

Think about it. If you own a peer-reviewed journal I want to be you. If you explain the peer-review system to anyone outside of academia it doesn't make sense. In fact, it makes us look like suckers. Not just suckers but unjust pretentious suckers. In my ends we have a word for this, but I want to maintain positivity.

Here is what I mean, an overview: Scientist conduct research, put many hours into doing this research, piloting experiments, conducting field work etc... At the end, sometimes after years and many person-hours of work, an article reporting the results of the experiments is written and submitted to a scientific journal. The work is then reviewed by others in the field to ensure rigour and quality. The reviewers (who also work for free) provide anonymous comments to the authors (which is another huge issue- but for another time). If the reviewers think the article has merit, then revisions are completed and eventually the manuscript reaches a point where it can be accepted for publication (in the best of cases).

What happens next is what is funny. The journal, without supporting the work or the people who did the work, then publishes the work along and obtains copyright on the article. They then charge exorbitant subscription fees to institutions for access to the work. At this point only a few select people have access to the completed work in its final form. This is Genius! Think about it - reviewers, authors, and sometimes editors are not supported by the journal. While there are some costs associated with post-productions, delivery, and the maintenance of online submission and revision systems, I am willing to bet publishers still make a healthy profit. This is messed up.

What's even more messed up is that, in some cases researchers and students are largely supported by public funds- that means my work was paid for by taxpayers (through the school and scholarships). Therefore when I submit to a journal- the people who supported the work now have to pay again to see it. Furthermore, they want embargos on anything that is published containing the same work (like a thesis). And I almost got one! I've made up my mind however- forget your embargo son!!- I'mma let the people see what they paid for (don't worry I did some technical stuff so I'm protected- shout out to my law crew, and get at me).