> What value does the publisher's work add to the work the author generated?
- organizing peer review
- spell-checking and fixing layout problems
- making sure that the paper stays available for a long time
- handling complaints and retracting fraudulent papers
- providing a single point of contact for people who would like to reuse published material (e.g., using illustrations in a textbook).
Sure, many publishers don't do a very good job for the money they are taking.
Sure, there might be better approaches for disseminating knowledge than the current one.
However, in the world as it is now, publishers can and do provide some value.
- organizing peer review - spell-checking and fixing layout problems - making sure that the paper stays available for a long time - handling complaints and retracting fraudulent papers - providing a single point of contact for people who would like to reuse published material (e.g., using illustrations in a textbook).
Sure, many publishers don't do a very good job for the money they are taking. Sure, there might be better approaches for disseminating knowledge than the current one. However, in the world as it is now, publishers can and do provide some value.