The first three paragraphs of the article clearly tells what is wrong with the system - &quot;Publishers are overcharging for content&quot;. 
Basically, they just continued their business model from the printed-book era to the e-book era without much change. 
The publishers should think of allowing individuals to subscribe to the content and charge them (nominally) for what they use, rather than putting the load on the Universities and making them subscribe the entire spectrum of journals.  
The Pay-per-view model of Elsevier currently charges an individual researcher (a staggering) &quot;$31.50 per article or chapter for most Elsevier content. Select titles are priced between $19.95 and $41.95 (subject to change).&quot; [0]<p>[0] -<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.elsevier.com&#x2F;solutions&#x2F;sciencedirect&#x2F;content&#x2F;pay-per-view" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.elsevier.com&#x2F;solutions&#x2F;sciencedirect&#x2F;content&#x2F;pay...</a>