Summary: The guest post (by Camille Thomas and Romain Vaucher, published July 16, 2026 on The Scholarly Kitchen) uses an ecological metaphor to describe the evolution of academic publishing. The authors compare the current scholarly communication system to a parasitic relationship: an evaluation culture that pushes researchers to prioritize journal prestige over openness, collaboration, or social impact. As a result, publicly funded research often ends up under commercial models that restrict access or shift high publishing costs onto authors via Article Processing Charges (APCs).
As an alternative, the authors advocate for Diamond Open Access. The piece closes with a call to build a publishing ecosystem based on symbiosis rather than parasitism.