Paywall: The Business of Scholarship (2018)

• 78%
• 2018
• Documentary
• Jason Schmitt

Paywall: The Business of Scholarship dives into the need for open access to research and science, questions the rationale behind the $25.2 billion a year that flows into for-profit academic publishers, examines the 35-40% profit margin associated with the top academic publisher Elsevier and looks at how that profit margin is often greater than some of the most profitable tech companies like Apple, Facebook and Google. I was drawn to this documentary topic when I learned that public funds that come out of tax payers' pockets fund important scientific research that is locked behind paywalls and inaccessible to the general public. As we filmed this documentaryI was struck by the global energy and enthusiasm toward open access and the strong resistance to the movement by many of the world's top publishers. Further, I found that the funds paid to academic publishers are heavily burdening the higher education market, contributing to the rising tuition fees at all universities, the closure of many institutions and, ultimately, limiting science and progress.