shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Elsevier?

Advanced information and decision support for science and healthcare. - elsevier.com

Depends. Worth using if your institution's library pays and your field's top journals are Elsevier. Don't pay APCs out of pocket or pick it as a small team's literature tool.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 30+ public sources; Elsevier is a publisher, so 'buying' means APCs, subscriptions, or institutional deals.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Varies by journal

Article APC (open access)

ModelPer journal
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierNo
Institutional subscriptionNegotiated per institution
Submission feesPer journal, some titles

Best for

  • University libraries with big budgets
  • Researchers targeting top-tier journals
  • Clinicians needing decision support
  • Institutions with read-publish agreements

Not for

  • Unfunded authors paying APCs personally
  • Reviewers expecting payment
  • Open-access-only labs
  • Small teams wanting a cheap literature tool

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

APCs are set per journal; check the exact fee before submitting anything

medium

Some journals charge submission fees on top of publication costs

medium

Institutional subscriptions are negotiated big deals, not list prices

medium

Reviewer labor is unpaid; community pushback is ongoing

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Vast peer-reviewed journal catalog across science and health
  • Structured peer-review guidance and Reviewer Hub for authors
  • Open-access options and institutional read-publish agreements
  • Article Transfer Service reroutes rejected papers to fitting journals
  • ClinicalKey AI expansion strengthens clinical decision support

Cons

  • Trustpilot customer service rated 1.8, 'Poor'
  • Widespread community anger over pricing and unpaid reviewing
  • Proofing system draws sharp author complaints
  • Open-science advocates question Elsevier publishing fit
  • Editorial appeals reportedly difficult for authors

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/25/2026 - 8 sources - No CVEs found, but third-party reports flag a domain hijack and leaked credentials.

official x2review x3security x2news x1
  • Elsevier domains hijacked, redirected to LAPSUS$ (2026), Third-party report says typing.com landed users on attacker infrastructure.
  • Infostealer credentials tied to Elsevier domains, 439 credentials from.br found in stealer logs.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • Varies by journal

    Starting price

  • 8

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Community widely calls journal pricing exploitative
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Proofing and submission tooling complaints recur
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Enormous journal catalog plus analytics and clinical tools
  • Support quality: 1/5. Trustpilot 1.8, 'Poor'
  • Security posture: 2/5. Reported domain hijack; leaked staff credentials
  • 1.8/5 Trustpilot rating 'Poor' customer-service score
  • 1880 Founded Publishing arm of RELX
  • Per journal APC model No flat rate; subscriptions negotiated

Pricing

Article APC (open access)

Varies by journal

  • Set per journal
  • Hybrid and gold options

Institutional subscription

Negotiated per institution

  • Journal bundles
  • Big-deal contracts

Submission fees

Per journal, some titles

  • Charged before review

Security

No CVEs found, but third-party reports flag a domain hijack and leaked credentials.

  • Elsevier domains hijacked, redirected to LAPSUS$ (2026)Third-party report says typing.com landed users on attacker infrastructure.⁶
  • Infostealer credentials tied to Elsevier domains439 credentials from.br found in stealer logs.⁷

What users say

Acadics vent about fees, unpaid reviewing, and clunky tools; Trustpilot sits at 1.8 'Poor'.

“F**k Elsevier and their proofing system”
Reddit, r/research
“Why do we hate Elsevier so much?”
Reddit, r/AskAcademia
“Time to charge Elsevier and other platforms for reviewing articles”
ResearchGate discussion

Companies that use it

  • CIMMYT
  • University of Canberra
Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources; Elsevier is a publisher, so 'buying' means APCs, subscriptions, or institutional deals.

Publishing giant: prestige journals, per-journal APCs, unpaid reviewers, 1.8/5 Trustpilot. Go via your library.

Methodology

Based on 30+ public sources; Elsevier is a publisher, so 'buying' means APCs, subscriptions, or institutional deals.

Sources

  1. Trustpilot reviews of elsevier.comtrustpilot.com
    review
  2. Why do we hate Elsevier so much? (Reddit)reddit.com
    review
  3. Elsevier proofing system complaints (Reddit)reddit.com
    review
  4. Journal pricing policyelsevier.com
    official
  5. Open access agreementselsevier.com
    official
  6. Elsevier LAPSUS$ domain hijack (CloudSkope)cloudskope.com
    security
  7. Elsevier stealer-log credentials (Hudson Rock)hudsonrock.com
    security
  8. ClinicalKey AI expansion (DrFirst blog)iprescribe.com
    news

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