Is Open Access the Revolution we need or a disaster waiting to happen?

There might be a revolution happening within Scholarly Publishing. Universities seem to be more than ever tired of giving the content for journals and then having to pay for them (double-dipping). The opportunity for everyone, no matter their location or background to be able to expand their knowledge for free seems almost too good to be true. However, the idea for content that is free for all may not be desirable as a scholar first assume. A study in South Africa found that “South Africa needs a smaller set of sustainable, high-quality local scholarly journals. These must all be online and open access.” (Crewe and Gevers, 2019). While this study would suggest that open access is the right move for the future of publishing that quality should take over quantity.

“Many open access advocates have argued that open access will save libraries money. Open access journals don’t charge subscription fees, but many of them charge researchers a fee to publish instead. However, authors can publish in the majority of open access journals for free.” (Khoo, 2019) While on first glance, this idea looks to be the inevitable future of Scholarly publishing, the financial viability of this may be in doubt. Many journals which have started as free to published have later introduced a fee. “For example, when eLife introduced a US$2,500 publication fee in 2017, it still published more articles in 2017 and 2018 than it had in 2016.” (Khoo, 2019) So while students and other researchers can read this article for free there remains a question, where is the money for publication sourced? Simple, it comes from the university itself, in particular, the researcher and their funding.

But the universities are paying for subscriptions at the moment, so surely the idea of spending a one-off fee is much more appealing. Especially if that means that their researchers will have easier access to the work of others, therefore allowing the expansion of knowledge. Unfortunately, there are two more potential problems; Quality and Sustainability.

The debate on quality is crucial. What is the point of making articles free if they do nothing to help the expansion of knowledge? “Some argue that open access models incentivize journals to publish more articles. Journals have to cover their costs. When a large portion of their revenue comes from publication fees, they may be encouraged to publish more articles, with a negative impact on overall quality.”(Geib, 2013) Is it better to have quality or quantity? Of course, many of the well established and reputable journals will probably still have quality control and high publication fees. But smaller journals that don’t have a long-standing reputation may struggle with the pressures of free access and an inability to ask for the same financial investment from researchers. As time goes on, open access seems to become more sustainable. However, if the fears about quality become a reality, the model may be damaging for publishing houses and the researchers by association.

Open access looks to the future of scholarly publishing. However, it should not be considered perfect like the current subscription model; it will have its flaws. According to Markin (2017)”A recent trade review of the Open Access (OA) journal publishing sector indicates that it is slated to continue its growth trajectory in the coming years.” So while the industry explores the viability of this model, we will look to the future to see if the promises that open access gives us will come true.

Crewe, R. and Gevers, W. (2019). How to approach the revolution in scholarly publishing. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/how-to-approach-the-revolution-in-scholarly-publishing-116091 [Accessed 26 Nov. 2019].

Geib, A. (2013). Publishing Point: Advantages and Disadvantages of Open Access | Edanz Group. [online] En-author-services.edanzgroup.com. Available at: https://en-author-services.edanzgroup.com/blogs/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-open-access [Accessed 26 Nov. 2019].

Khoo, S. (2019). Increasing open access publications serves publishers’ commercial interests. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/increasing-open-access-publications-serves-publishers-commercial-interests-116328 [Accessed 26 Nov. 2019].

Markin, P. (2017). The Sustainability of Open Access Publishing Models Past a Tipping Point | Open Science. [online] Open Science. Available at: https://openscience.com/the-sustainability-of-open-access-publishing-models-past-a-tipping-point/ [Accessed 26 Nov. 2019].