Yosef - it depends what you mean by 'fair'. Elsevier, like other main global publishing houses, i.e. Wiley, Taylor & Francis etc have been heavily criticised over recent years for their high institutional costs. Many notable universities and research institutions are boycotting them as a protest stand. However, the other side of the coin is that such operations are costly to run and keeping up with the latest technology and innovations requires a heavy investment ploughing back into the industry - as well as trying to keep ahead of the industry competition. The more that the open access model become established (for current subscription-heavy companies such as Elsevier as well) - perhaps the more that institutional costs will come down.

Thank you for your genuine response

Interesting question, Yosef Tadesse. Though such words as 'costly' and 'fair' are relative. Here in Southern Africa where we do research from, most researchers cannot afford the fees that Elsevier charges. The situation may be different for regions in the global north or for institutional research, which has publication budgets. So to some they are fair, to us they are not fair because they do not permit equal ability to publish for all researchers.

Thank you very much