> if only because they're expected to be gatekeepers for a minimum standard of supposed reproducibility.

There are decades of beta-amyloid papers that show that this is false. Like any for-profit entity, premium journals' primary purpose is to satiate shareholders - it is their feduciary responsibility to get away with as much as possible in the name of profit.

That's not to say that open access doesn't have equally as concerning issues: which of the two is better or worse is an extremely difficult call to make.