Open access publishing: the new norm?
From The Embassy of Good Science
Themes
Open access publishing: the new norm?
What is this about?
Open access publishing allows research outputs, such as academic journal articles, to be distributed online without barriers. This is in contrast to traditional non-open access publishing, where access has to be acquired through subscriptions, site licenses or pay-per-view charges. Although developments in the open access movement suggest its popularity is rising, there is little information about the impact on publishing
Why is this important?
Whether access to scientific literature should be open or behind paywalls is a prominent topic of debate in the research community. In a 2018 analysis on open access publishing, it was estimated that 28% of all current journal articles are freely available online (1). This proportion has been growing over the last 20 years. In 2015, the most recent year that was examined, 45% of all articles were reported to be open access (1). The adoption of open access practices however differs between publishers and research fields
For whom is this important?
The Embassy Editorial team, Iris Lechner, Elsa Amin, Lars Lambriks contributed to this theme. Latest contribution was Mar 25, 2021