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What is the most profitable industry in the world? Not oil, not IT, not pharma. It's scientific publishing.
(lemmy.world)
Source: Cornell University
this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2025
199 points (96.3% liked)
Mildly Infuriating
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Does someone have a more specific source? I want to read more into these numbers. I knew it was bad, but wow
I think this bit of nuance is important and easy to overlook: these numbers are about profit margins, which doesn't necessarily translate to market size. Individual grocery stores generally run on thin margins, but Kroger is huge because their stores are EVERYWHERE. Everyone needs to eat. Our world needs energy, and we largely use oil to supply it. Drugs help us live longer. Etc etc etc.
Scientific articles are not nearly as ubiquitous in day to day life. They have have a huge profit margin and still be relatively small because their sales volume is low.
I know they can be scummy, but this is so not an apples to apples comparison.
Yeah bizbuysell has a fantastic article on this. https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/most-profitable-businesses/
Vending machines are crazy profitable (low end of almost 50% profit margins) but you can’t scale vending machines. If you’re operating a vending machine you can only service so many per week.
This isn't exactly what you asked for, but I really enjoyed this long piece from The Guardian that looks at the history of how scientific publishing became the massively profitable behemoth it is today. Reading it as a scientist (i.e. someone who has spent a while marinading in a broth of "man, fuck the academic publishing industry" rhetoric in my community) was mind-blowing.