Open Access Publishing: Does It Meet Your Publication Goals?

In the traditional publishing model, authors publish without a fee while readers access the articles by purchasing a subscription to the journal. Open Access publishing shifts the cost to the authors or their institutions and anyone can read the articles for free. Open Access started about 20 years ago when governmental funding agencies wanted taxpayers to be able to see the results of research that they funded without paying a fee. Learn more about the variety of Open Access Models here.

In addition to these models, authors can negotiate for their rights with an author addendum. These documents are attached to publishing or copyright transfer agreements so authors can request additional rights beyond those already granted by the publisher (like the SPARC Author Addendum).

 A major problem with Open Access publishing is that bad actors can hijack or create fake ‘journals’ to make money from researchers who are desperate to publish. Read more about predatory publishers here.  When considering where to publish your manuscript, consider these factors to strategically avoid problematic journals. Factors to consider:

• Scope/Audience: If you want to reach the public, an open access journal may be better than a high impact, subscription-based journal.
• Reputation: can you verify the editors? Does it have an ethical peer-review process? What are its metrics, such as impact factor?
• Indexing: Most researchers will find your article through a literature search, so make sure it is indexed in major disciplinary databases, such as MEDLINE (and therefore appears in PubMed).

How does one find reliable details about a journal? Verify with an unbiased source.

• Web of Science Master Journal List (free account required)

Remember:  The library is here to save you time. We can help you evaluate a journal. Simply reach out!