open access: pros and cons

OPEN ACCESS: PROS AND CONSFROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A CONTENT PRODUCER

WHAT IS OPEN ACCESS?

• “For scholarly work Open Access means making peer reviewed scholarly manuscripts freely available via the Internet, permitting any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any lawful purpose, without financial, legal or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself”

Source: https://aoasg.org.au/what-is-open-access/

ADVANTAGE 1: GREATER VISIBILITY• More exposure and readership can lead to more

citations, and make it more likely you will be discovered.

ADVANTAGE 2: FUNDING AND GRANTS AVAILABLE• “The comprehensive

Study of Open Access Publishing explained that the publishing fees are paid by funders (59%) or by universities (24%). Only 12% of the time do authors pay out of pocket.”

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/21/open-access-myths-peter-suber-harvard

ADVANTAGE 3: ACCESS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES• “Lack of access to journals is a problem for researchers in developing countries. Open access can help provide scientists the opportunity to participate in the research community. “

Source: https://www.edanzediting.com/blogs/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-open-access

ADVANTAGE 4: MEANINGFUL USE OF TECHNOLOGY• “ Many libraries are striving to become more

relevant in a digital environment, and open access makes it easier for libraries to accomplish this goal.”• This can also mean that practitioners can access

and use research findings in the clinical setting.

Source: http://www.sirsidynix.com/news/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-open-access-in-libraries

Source: https://aoasg.org.au/resources/

SUMMARY

DISADVANTAGE 1: SUSTAINABILITY

• Tragedy of the commons issue• “Some argue that traditional paid access models ensure publishers are

adequately compensated for the substantial role they play. Whether open access models can sustainably support the research publication infrastructure in the long term remains to be seen.”

Source: https://www.edanzediting.com/blogs/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-open-access

DISADVANTAGE 2: LACK OF QUALITY CONTROL • This is not as much a problem for reputable

journals, but others need to cover costs and this may result in publishing more articles at the expense of overall quality.

Source: https://www.edanzediting.com/blogs/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-open-access

DISADVANTAGE 3: PUBLICATION FEES

• Someone has to pay for the publication, and this is often down to the author, this can discourage researchers from going to open access

Source: https://www.edanzediting.com/blogs/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-open-access

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