I think it is a problem of the system more than just the libraries.
We all contribute to keeping that system alive. As authors when paying to get our articles published, as Editors when providing our services to Journals that charge for publishing, and as reviewers when reviewing for these publishing systems.
The problem is way too big because the whole academic system is predatory. Researchers are asked to publish in highly visible journals to improve their positions within the Academia or increase chances to get funding. The journals where a researcher has to publish to advance its career in most cases are part of a machinery that is enriching a few for publishing articles.
These companies go at faster speeds than we can go to educate people to prevent this to keep growing. For example, few days ago I was watching over and over in Youtube the opportunity to become an Editor in Frontiers (they even have the money to put adds on youtube), as they "provide a platform of journals" for people to help science being editors (unpaid) and enhance their curriculums.
What we can do?
I try to educate and publish in Journals that do not require payments, but for some of those Journals the visibility is not high enough or the standards are way too high as their demand to publish is that high too.
We know, first hand, how much publishing a Journal costs, but APCs are just way too over what should it be for most of the Journals that I have experienced. I know that there are Journals out there that have an APC that is reasonable, like Annals of African Surgery, Ciencia e Saude Coletiva, and Revista Medica de Chile (+/-100 USD), but they do not have comparable visibility.
I don't have a solution for this whole mess; probably we should keep building a community of people that is aware of the situation and tries to promote knowledge and alternatives, and of course, keep publishing in places that do not abuse APCs.
Sincerely,
Francisco Javier Bonilla-Escobar, MD, MSc, PhD(c)
Editor-in-Chief
International Journal of Medical Students
