Who Actually Reads Academic Journals?

Logosofia no Dia a Dia · Apr 29, 2026 · 33m

Half of all academic papers are read by no one except the author, peer reviewers, and the editor. Yet the system keeps expanding: over 300,000 active journals publish roughly three million articles every year. This episode unpacks the bizarre economics of academic publishing—where journals serve as credentialing mechanisms rather than communication tools, where profit margins exceed Apple’s, and where the long tail of niche journals is actually getting longer and weirder. We explore the predatory journal explosion, the open access revolution’s messy implementation, and the case for why even…