There’s an article in the UW-Madison newsletter about the Elsevier boycott. I’m quoted as follows:
“The main issue is that scientists want their papers to be read and available, and not just to scientists at well-funded universities. We are spending, collectively, a good amount of money that goes toward profit for these journal companies, and that could be redirected.”
At this point, Broman says scientists are in control. Although Elsevier is a giant among publishers, “Authors have complete control over where they decide to send their papers. If one day, everybody decides not to send to Elsevier, but to open access journals instead, it would be done.”