Paywall: The Business of Scholarship is a documentary which focuses on the need for open access to research and science. The film 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 such as Apple, Facebook,
and Google.
and Google.
Staying true to the open access model, the film is free to stream and download, for private or public use, and maintains the most open CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons designation to ensure anyone regardless of their social, financial, or political background will have access.
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Should you wish to support the Open Access movement, you might consider donating to organizations who are leading the charge for Open Access, including EIFL, SPARC, and SPARC Europe. For a comprehensive list of organizations working in the Open Access space, visit the Open Access Directory.