Part of the problem is that none of these articles were
co-written by a Liberian scientist. The investigators
collected their samples, returned home and published
the startling results in European medical journals.
Few Liberians were then trained in laboratory or
epidemiological methods. Even today, downloading one
of the papers would cost a physician here $45, about
half a week’s salary.
Academic here. There is no reason why these articles should have to cost $45. Academics have to publish in name-brand journals to get recognized, and these high prices are pure rent-seeking on behalf of the publishers.
publishers need to make money too. i also dislike this anti 'rent-seeking' culture. if there is no reason for it to cost that much, start your own publishing company and give out the materials for free (or some lower price).
> start your own publishing company and give out the materials for free
There are many people that are moving exactly to this. As ever, the problem is that the market is not perfectly fluid and things like academic cultural biases, impressions of prestige, etc often do not follow the most efficient contours. Posts like the GP's are called for precisely because they call attention to this and try to shift perception.
