Open access

Open access
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Name	Open access

Open access is a publishing model that aims to make scholarly works freely available online without subscription barriers. Advocates, including researchers from Harvard University, librarians from Library of Congress, policymakers from the European Commission, and funders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, promote unrestricted access to research outputs to accelerate discovery, inform policy, and enhance public engagement. Supporters draw on precedents from repositories like arXiv, journals like PLOS Biology, and initiatives such as the Budapest Open Access Initiative to argue for systemic change across universities, publishers, and research funders.

History

Early roots trace to distribution efforts by scientists at institutions such as Los Alamos National Laboratory and projects like arXiv that emerged in the late 20th century. Landmark events and statements— including the Budapest Open Access Initiative, the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing, and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities—shaped contemporary discourse. Major actors such as Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley-Blackwell, and advocacy groups like the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition engaged in negotiations and disputes leading to transformative agreements involving consortia like Jisc and national systems exemplified by Plan S negotiations involving funders including the European Research Council and national research councils. Court cases, policy shifts at institutions like University of California, Berkeley, and repository growth at libraries such as British Library and Bibliothèque nationale de France further influenced trajectories.

Principles and Definitions

Core principles draw on statements issued by coalitions including the Budapest Open Access Initiative, the Berlin Declaration, and organizations such as the Max Planck Society and the Wellcome Trust. Definitions distinguish between gratis access endorsed by National Institutes of Health public repositories and libre access supported by licensing frameworks such as the Creative Commons suite including Creative Commons Attribution and Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike. Terminology used by publishers like PLOS and societies including the American Chemical Society influences how access, reuse, and rights are framed, while compliance mechanisms reference mandates from funders like the National Science Foundation and governmental directives by the European Commission.

Models and Types

Models include green repositories exemplified by institutional systems at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and subject repositories like PubMed Central, and gold publishing as practiced by publishers such as PLOS and BioMed Central. Hybrid offerings by companies like Springer Nature and Elsevier combine subscription and open options, while diamond/platinum journals supported by societies like the Royal Society or universities such as Yale University operate without article processing charges. Preprint cultures associated with bioRxiv and services like Figshare and Zenodo extend dissemination, and overlay journal experiments linked to platforms like Open Journal Systems and initiatives by COAR explore alternative peer review and editorial infrastructures.

Funding and Economic Models

Economic arrangements cover article processing charges (APCs) charged by publishers such as Frontiers and MDPI, institutional agreements negotiated by library consortia like California Digital Library or SCOAP3, and funder support models employed by organizations like the Wellcome Trust and the European Research Council. Transformative agreements and read-and-publish contracts with firms such as Taylor & Francis and Wiley attempt to rebalance subscription revenue streams, while public funding frameworks at agencies like the National Institutes of Health and national ministries shape repository mandates. Alternative funding through philanthropic bodies like the Gates Foundation, university presses including Oxford University Press or consortiums like Redalyc illustrate diverse sustainability strategies.

Impact and Criticism

Proponents cite increased citation advantages documented in studies involving authors from Stanford University and University of Oxford, greater public engagement exemplified in collaborations with museums like the Smithsonian Institution, and policy influence in arenas such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Critics raise concerns about APC affordability affecting researchers at institutions including University of Cape Town and funders in low-income countries, quality and peer review integrity debated in relation to publishers such as MDPI, and market concentration issues tied to major conglomerates like RELX Group. Equity debates invoke initiatives from SciELO, capacity-building programs by UNESCO, and legal tensions involving copyright offices and statutes such as those overseen by the United States Copyright Office.

Policies and Mandates

Mandates originate from funders and institutions including the National Institutes of Health, the European Commission, the UK Research Councils, and national research agencies like the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Notable policy frameworks include Plan S coordinated by cOAlition S members and repository requirements such as those of PubMed Central. University policies from entities like Harvard University and national laws in jurisdictions represented by Germany and France set deposit or licensing expectations, while publisher policies from organizations such as IEEE and ACM affect copyright transfer and self-archiving rights.

Implementation and Infrastructure

Infrastructure comprises repositories run by institutions like MIT Libraries and national services such as PubMed Central and HAL (open archive), platform technologies including DSpace, EPrints, and Open Journal Systems, and metadata standards promoted by organizations like Crossref and ORCID. Preservation and discovery services involve collaborations with archives like LOCKSS and Portico, indexing by databases such as Google Scholar and Scopus, and integration with researcher identifiers such as ORCID and grant registries maintained by Crossref and funders including the Wellcome Trust.

Category:Academic publishing