iStockA lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses four major publishers of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges. Publishers’ fees vary, but APCs for open access can range from hundreds of dollars for small journals up to thousands, with some topping $10,000 per paper. The real costs of processing such articles are between $200 and $1,000, Alperin claims in the complaint. Such companies are frequently accused of FCA violations, while a pharmacy or doctor’s office unknowingly filed the false claims. “It’s a great reminder of how broad in scope the False Claims Act is,” she said.