Why does this branch still exist?
As I see it, the internet made publishing obsolete and the whole complex has degenerated into a parasitic entity that researchers are willing to keep alive for no discernible reason by PAYING to give away their work for them to sell, by artificially providing value in the form of "prestige" and by cucking themselves by providing free labor to the ones that exploit them.
Is there some actual value they provide that I am missing or are people that don't boycott journals simply retarded?