[geezerjay]

> Sure, nobody forces you to publish in Elsevier journals

Actually, some researchers are forced to publish in Elsevier journals. Some research institutions require researchers to meet publication quotas and a paper only counts if it's published in a journal that's included in a precompiled list of reference publications. If every single journal is ownrd and controlled by the likes of Elsevier then these researchers have no alternative, because they will get fired if they don't.