The academic publishing controversy may be the least popular in this list, but it is still a huge issue impacting the industry. In an article published by Big Think, Simon Oxenham claims that big publishers of academic journals have a vested interest in locking away knowledge from the majority of humanity. As Oxenham explains, this is how academic publishers are ruining the industry: 

Academics must generally hand away all rights to the copyright of their best creations, creations that often take millions of dollars of public money to make. Once the work is finished, it is given permanently, and for free, to publishers who reap a higher profit margin than practically any other industry. Since the value of academic research is incalculable, publishers can charge whatever they want. This means that the price of access to academic research is rising and access is becoming harder. Both public libraries and professional researchers are losing access en masse. universities and hospitals must pay millions of dollars per year to access work academics produced decades ago, work that was generally funded by the public purse, or charitable grants at great expense. Researchers and scientific organizations around the world are now working hand in hand to change the system to one based on open access. The goal is to end big publishers’ time as gatekeepers of the industry.