Open Access or Subscription Journals - Caution, Promotion, Visibility and Credibility

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Definition of Open Access

"Open Access" (OA) is defined as "the free, immediate, online availability of research articles combined with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. It is the needed modern update for the communication of research that fully utilizes the internet for what it was originally built to do — accelerate research."

Accelerators and Roadblocks

Accelerators

  • Free and easy access to content
  • Provides an impetus to disseminate knowledge widely
  • May increase the exposure, visibility, usage, and impact of your research
  • Easy access for researchers in developing countries

Roadblocks

  • Publication costs for researchers
  • Hesitance due to less prominence than established journals
  • Lack of impact factor for many new OA journals
  • Potential quality concerns and credibility issues
  • Risk of degradation of scientific literature
  • Questions about long-term sustainability

Real-life Scenario

  • Manuscript with negative findings faced multiple rejections
  • Subscription journals willing to publish only with negative study deleted
  • OA journal accepted and published the article with negative results after rigorous peer-review

Critical Factors to Consider

  1. Journal's visibility
  2. Cost of publication
  3. Journal's reputation

Cost Comparison

Cost Subscription Articles OA Articles
Researcher Normally free or modest charges Set manuscript processing fee
Reader Subscriptions - a major expense No expenses

Visibility and Prestige

  • OA articles are free, potentially leading to higher readership
  • Increased visibility may lead to easier reach of potential collaborators
  • Publication in prestigious journals increases chances of promotion and funding

References

  1. SPARC, "Open Access - SPARC," Available at: https://sparcopen.org/open-access/. Accessed June 5, 2023.
  2. Burtle L. Open Access: Types of OA [Internet]. 2023. Available at: https://research.library.gsu.edu/c.php?g=115588&p=754380. Accessed June 5, 2023.
  3. Hugar JG. Impact of Open Access Journals in DOAJ: An Analysis. Int. J. Adv. Library Inf. Sci. 2019;7(1):448-55. https://doi.org/10.23953/cloud.ijalis.399.