The one science reform we can all agree on, but we're too cowardly to do

The scientific publishing industry functions as a parasitic, taxpayer-funded scam that extracts billions annually while providing minimal value. Universities pay for research, then pay publishers to host it, and finally pay again for access, allowing corporations like Elsevier and Wiley to maintain profit margins exceeding those of major tech firms. While the internet rendered the physical logistics of publishing obsolete, the system persists through institutional lock-in and the necessity of high-impact journals for career advancement. Current "open access" mandates often merely shift costs from subscriptions to exorbitant article processing charges, failing to address the underlying rent-seeking. To fix this, government grant agencies must mandate that publicly funded research cannot be published in for-profit journals. This systemic change would eliminate the middleman, redirect funds toward actual scientific inquiry, and allow more effective, collaborative models of knowledge dissemination to flourish.