Why do researchers have to pay to read research papers? Should the papers be free for those who need them?

There is a battle over whether the academic research papers should have a free access to all. These papers are generally locked behind paywalls, and have access to only those from the university network or pay a premium subscription fee.

Students, doctors, researchers and the public often have to pay a fee of an average of some $40 per article to read the latest scientific research. As a result, for instance, independent physician, may not be able to read a paper with relevance to their clinical practice unless paid.

Researchers in India, for example, rely more heavily on informal access to the scientific literature because their institutions are unable to provide the research literature they require (ref).

But then, for researchers, their publications are their KPI. If they want to get ahead, they have to publish often and publish at top journals.

So for them, it is like "Publish or Perish".

I had a similar question when I first got involved in research when I started Prognica Labs, developing the AI based technology for early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer and when we were writing a book "Artificial Intelligence in Breast Cancer Early Detection and Diagnosis", published on Springer

If a researcher’s work is good enough to be accepted to a good journal, the cost of applying will be outweighed by the benefit being accepted will bring, through gifts, funding, attention, grants, etc.

And joy and fulfillment you get when you see your book or paper is downloaded / read by thousands in just few months, is overwhelming.

When you're reading a paper in a reputed high end journal, you can be sure the paper is good and thoroughly vetted, written well. For the reader, the journal is providing easy access, vetted science and a good reading experience.

Although it is true that journal content shouldn't cost as much as it currently does, as; 1 - Scholars write the content for free, 2- Scholars do the peer-review for free

I think that more than having free access to a paper, the challenge is to share this knowledge beyond the academic walls. We need to think on how a researcher can connect and explain to their community the subjects of research? How can it improve the lives or even promote a reflection about a topic?