Since the prestige of journals in many fields is significantly affected by the names on its editorial board. What if the Gates foundation earmarks funds to work on lobbying and even pay significant consulting fees for top editors to move to open access journals operated by PLoS or other non-profits.
(A highly successful example in the machine learning field is detailed in a comment by exgrv here.)
The foundation could also purchase a few smaller publishers which own good journals in a number of fields, especially fields which immediate access is important to human well-being. Then, turn all those journals into open-access with no or minimal author fees.
Bottom line: These strategies together will create big incentives for researchers to flock towards those journals since immediate and open access is a boon to citation counts and impact factor. Other journals will feel the heat and need to compete (like by reducing prices or time to open access) to gain back their market share.
If the foundation spends enough efforts, it could also out-lobbying congress and/or funding agencies to change its policy on open access, as the size of Elsevier and other publishers are significantly smaller than the Gates foundation and the public perception among those with any opinion on this definitely sides with open access policy.
(A highly successful example in the machine learning field is detailed in a comment by exgrv here.)
The foundation could also purchase a few smaller publishers which own good journals in a number of fields, especially fields which immediate access is important to human well-being. Then, turn all those journals into open-access with no or minimal author fees.
Bottom line: These strategies together will create big incentives for researchers to flock towards those journals since immediate and open access is a boon to citation counts and impact factor. Other journals will feel the heat and need to compete (like by reducing prices or time to open access) to gain back their market share.
If the foundation spends enough efforts, it could also out-lobbying congress and/or funding agencies to change its policy on open access, as the size of Elsevier and other publishers are significantly smaller than the Gates foundation and the public perception among those with any opinion on this definitely sides with open access policy.