@StephanMatthiesen @brembs

I fear that the situation is even worse than it was 20 years ago. It’s no longer just about publishing: academic software (e.g. PURE), services (e.g. Scopus), and analytics tools (e.g. SciVal and PlumX) have also been readily adopted by academic institutions.

There are many reasons for this, but what I believe is missing is sustained lobbying at the level of decision-makers: a kind of advocacy and pressure group for open infrastructures that maintains a constant presence and activity, countering the relentless lobbying of Elsevier and others.

Of course, I realise that many people are already advocating for open infrastructures in different contexts. But I think it would be a huge boost to have a professional organisation dedicated to this work. One that can engage continuously with decision-makers and bring the issue more visibly into public attention.

#OpenScience #OpenInfrastructures #FundTheFutureYouWant

@brembs Thanks Björn!

Sources:

Revealed: leading climate research publisher helps fuel oil and gas drilling: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/24/elsevier-publishing-climate-science-fossil-fuels

Addressing the Alarming Systems of Surveillance Built By Library Vendors:
https://sparcopen.org/news/2021/addressing-the-alarming-systems-of-surveillance-built-by-library-vendors/

Elsevier has incorporated 35 companies in Delaware: https://opencorporates.com/companies?q=elsevier&type=companies

Exploring the Role Delaware Plays as a Domestic Tax Haven: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1737937

RELX Annual Report 2025: https://www.relx.com/investors/annual-reports/2025

A note on the sources: The points in the post refer to documented corporate relationships and activities. In particular, incorporation in a jurisdiction associated with tax avoidance does not in itself establish that Elsevier or RELX engaged in tax avoidance.

Image: Garry Knight / CC0 1.0 Universal

I have a question: Why are we still in business with Elsevier in 2026?

Academic institutions are committed to democracy, digital sovereignty and environmental sustainability.

But do these values also guide purchasing decisions? Let’s look at Elsevier, a major provider of academic publishing, analytics and software, and its wider corporate group:

️ Elsevier works with the fossil fuel industry, providing data and analytics that support oil and gas exploration.

Elsevier’s corporate affiliate LexisNexis Risk Solutions provides data services to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

️ And companies within Elsevier’s corporate structures have been registered in jurisdictions commonly associated with tax avoidance and tax-haven structures.

At the same time, academic institutions collectively spend 3.16 billion Euros on Elsevier’s products and services.

Every contract is also a decision about which infrastructures and organisations we fund.

There are alternatives. Open infrastructures are built around a fundamentally different model: transparency, community governance and the idea that critical scholarly infrastructure should serve the public interest.

Yet many of these infrastructures struggle due to insufficient funding.

This is not about pretending that changing infrastructure is easy. It isn’t. But surely we should at least be asking ourselves:

Are the organisations we fund helping to build the future we want?

Sources in the reply.

#WhoAreWeFunding #FundTheFutureYouWant
#OpenScience #OpenInfrastructures
#NoTechForICE #S4F