Editing Open access (section)

== Features ==

The emergence of [[open science]] or [[open research]] has brought to light a number of controversial and hotly-debated topics.

Scholarly publishing invokes various positions and passions. For example, authors may spend hours struggling with diverse article submission systems, often converting document formatting between a multitude of journal and conference styles, and sometimes spend months waiting for peer review results. The drawn-out and often contentious societal and technological transition to Open Access and Open Science/Open Research, particularly across North America and Europe (Latin America has already widely adopted "Acceso Abierto" since before 2000<ref name="Alperin 2015">{{Cite web |title=Hecho En Latinoamérica. Acceso Abierto, Revistas Académicas e Innovaciones Regionales |url=http://www.clacso.org.ar/libreria-latinoamericana/buscar_libro_detalle.php?id_libro=988&amp;campo=&amp;texto= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806005445/http://www.clacso.org.ar/libreria-latinoamericana/buscar_libro_detalle.php?id_libro=988&campo=&texto= |archive-date=6 August 2020 |access-date=31 August 2020}}</ref>) has led to increasingly entrenched positions and much debate.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Vuong|first1=Quan-Hoang|date=2018|title=The (ir)rational consideration of the cost of science in transition economies |journal=Nature Human Behaviour|volume=2|issue=1|pages=5|doi=10.1038/s41562-017-0281-4|pmid=30980055 |s2cid=256707733 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The area of (open) scholarly practices increasingly sees a role for policy-makers and research funders<ref name="Ross-Hellauer 2018">{{cite journal | doi=10.1177/2158244018816717 | title=Are Funder Open Access Platforms a Good Idea? | year=2018 | last1=Ross-Hellauer | first1=Tony | last2=Schmidt | first2=Birgit | last3=Kramer | first3=Bianca | journal=SAGE Open | volume=8 | issue=4 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Vincent‐Lamarre 2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Vincent-Lamarre |first1=Philippe |last2=Boivin |first2=Jade |last3=Gargouri |first3=Yassine |last4=Larivière |first4=Vincent |last5=Harnad |first5=Stevan |year=2016 |title=Estimating Open Access Mandate Effectiveness: The MELIBEA Score |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/370203/1/MelibeaFIN4.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology |volume=67 |issue=11 |pages=2815–2828 |arxiv=1410.2926 |doi=10.1002/asi.23601 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923015455/http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/370203/1/MelibeaFIN4.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2016 |access-date=28 August 2019 |s2cid=8144721}}</ref><ref name="Union 2019">{{Cite book |date=30 January 2019 |title=Future of Scholarly Publishing and Scholarly Communication : Report of the Expert Group to the European Commission. |publisher=Publications Office of the European Union |isbn=9789279972386 |url=https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/464477b3-2559-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603183000/https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/464477b3-2559-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1 |archive-date=3 June 2019 |access-date=28 August 2019}}</ref> giving focus to issues such as career incentives, research evaluation and business models for publicly funded research. [[Plan S]] and [[AmeliCA]]<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Aguado-López |first1=Eduardo |last2=Becerril-Garcia |first2=Arianna |date=2019-08-08 |title=AmeliCA before Plan S – The Latin American Initiative to develop a cooperative, non-commercial, academic led, system of scholarly communication |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2019/08/08/amelica-before-plan-s-the-latin-american-initiative-to-develop-a-cooperative-non-commercial-academic-led-system-of-scholarly-communication/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101025852/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2019/08/08/amelica-before-plan-s-the-latin-american-initiative-to-develop-a-cooperative-non-commercial-academic-led-system-of-scholarly-communication/ |archive-date=2019-11-01 |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=Impact of Social Sciences}}</ref> (Open Knowledge for Latin America) caused a wave of debate in scholarly communication in 2019 and 2020.<ref name="Johnson 2019">{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Rob |year=2019 |title=From Coalition to Commons: Plan S and the Future of Scholarly Communication |journal=Insights: The UKSG Journal |volume=32 |doi=10.1629/uksg.453 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=2020-09-01|title=The growth of open access publishing in geochemistry|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666277920300010|journal=Results in Geochemistry|language=en|volume=1|pages=100001|doi=10.1016/j.ringeo.2020.100001|issn=2666-2779|last1=Pourret|first1=Olivier|last2=Irawan|first2=Dasapta Erwin|last3=Tennant|first3=Jonathan P.|last4=Hursthouse|first4=Andrew|last5=Van Hullebusch|first5=Eric D.|bibcode=2020ResGc...100001P |s2cid=219903509}}</ref>

=== Licenses ===
[[File:DOAJ licenses.png|thumb|Licenses used by gold and hybrid OA journals in DOAJ<ref name="Khing Phyo San">{{Cite web |last=DOAJ |title=Journal metadata |url=https://doaj.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827194107/https://doaj.org/ |archive-date=27 August 2016 |access-date=18 May 2019 |website=doaj.org}}</ref>]]
Subscription-based publishing typically requires [[copyright transfer|transfer of copyright]] from authors to the [[academic publisher|publisher]] so that the latter can monetise the process via dissemination and reproduction of the work.<ref name="Matushek 2017">{{Cite journal |last=Matushek |first=Kurt J. |year=2017 |title=Take Another Look at the Instructions for Authors |journal=Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association |volume=250 |issue=3 |pages=258–259 |doi=10.2460/javma.250.3.258 |pmid=28117640 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Bachrach 1998">{{Cite journal |last1=Bachrach |first1=S. |last2=Berry |first2=R. S. |last3=Blume |first3=M. |last4=von Foerster |first4=T. |last5=Fowler |first5=A. |last6=Ginsparg |first6=P. |last7=Heller |first7=S. |last8=Kestner |first8=N. |last9=Odlyzko |first9=A. |last10=Okerson |first10=A. |last11=Wigington |first11=R. |year=1998 |title=Who Should Own Scientific Papers? |journal=Science |volume=281 |issue=5382 |pages=1459–60 |bibcode=1998Sci...281.1459B |doi=10.1126/science.281.5382.1459 |pmid=9750115 |last12=Moffat |first12=A. |s2cid=36290551}}</ref><ref name="Gadd 2003b">{{Cite journal |last1=Gadd |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Oppenheim |first2=Charles |last3=Probets |first3=Steve |year=2003 |title=RoMEO Studies 4: An Analysis of Journal Publishers" Copyright Agreements |url=http://eprints.rclis.org/4846/1/RoMEO%20Studies%204.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Learned Publishing |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=293–308 |doi=10.1087/095315103322422053 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728211841/http://eprints.rclis.org/4846/1/RoMEO%20Studies%204.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2020 |access-date=9 September 2019 |hdl=10150/105141|s2cid=40861778 }}</ref><ref name="Willinsky 2002">{{Cite journal |last=Willinsky |first=John |year=2002 |title=Copyright Contradictions in Scholarly Publishing |journal=First Monday |volume=7 |issue=11 |doi=10.5210/fm.v7i11.1006 |s2cid=39334346 |doi-access=free }}</ref> With OA publishing, typically authors retain copyright to their work, and [[license]] its reproduction to the publisher.<ref name="Carroll 2011">{{Cite journal |last=Carroll |first=Michael W. |year=2011 |title=Why Full Open Access Matters |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=9 |issue=11 |pages=e1001210 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001210 |pmc=3226455 |pmid=22140361 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Retention of copyright by authors can support [[academic freedom]]s by enabling greater control of the work (e.g. for image re-use) or licensing agreements (e.g. to allow dissemination by others).<ref name="Davies 2015">{{Cite journal |last=Davies |first=Mark |year=2015 |title=Academic Freedom: A Lawyer's Perspective |url=http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/59929/3/Academic%20freedom%20Article%20%28final%20draft%20-%20preproof%29.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Higher Education |volume=70 |issue=6 |pages=987–1002 |doi=10.1007/s10734-015-9884-8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223173621/http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/59929/3/Academic%20freedom%20Article%20%28final%20draft%20-%20preproof%29.pdf |archive-date=23 December 2019 |access-date=28 August 2019 |s2cid=144222460}}</ref>

The most common licenses used in open access publishing are [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite SSRN |title=Open Access Publishing: A Literature Review |last=Frosio |first=Giancarlo F. |date=2014 |ssrn=2697412}}</ref> The widely used CC BY license is one of the most permissive, only requiring attribution to be allowed to use the material (and allowing derivations and commercial use).<ref>{{Cite SSRN |title=Creative Commons Licenses: Empowering Open Access |last=Peters |first=Diane |last2=Margoni |first2=Thomas |date=10 March 2016 |ssrn=2746044}}</ref> A range of more restrictive Creative Commons licenses are also used. More rarely, some of the smaller academic journals use custom open access licenses.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Dodds 2018">{{Cite journal |last=Dodds |first=Francis |year=2018 |title=The Changing Copyright Landscape in Academic Publishing |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1342712 |url-status=live |journal=Learned Publishing |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=270–275 |doi=10.1002/leap.1157 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204104703/https://zenodo.org/record/1342712 |archive-date=4 February 2020 |access-date=4 February 2020 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Some publishers (e.g. [[Elsevier]]) use "author nominal copyright" for OA articles, where the author retains copyright in name only and all rights are transferred to the publisher.<ref name="Morrison 2017">{{Cite journal |last=Morrison |first=Heather |year=2017 |title=From the Field: Elsevier as an Open Access Publisher |journal=The Charleston Advisor |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=53–59 |doi=10.5260/chara.18.3.53 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10393/35779}}</ref><ref name="Alperin 2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Pablo Alperin |first1=Juan |last2=Rozemblum |first2=Cecilia |year=2017 |title=The Reinterpretation of the Visibility and Quality of New Policies to Assess Scientific Publications |journal=Revista Interamericana de Bibliotecología |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=231–241 |doi=10.17533/udea.rib.v40n3a04 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Frass 2013">{{cite book|author1=W. Frass |author2=J. Cross |author3=V. Gardner|year=2013|title=Open Access Survey: Exploring the Views of Taylor & Francis and Routledge Authors|url=https://files.taylorandfrancis.com/open-access-survey-march2013.pdf|publisher=Taylor & Francis/Routledge}}</ref>

=== Funding ===
Since open access publication does not charge readers, there are many financial models used to cover costs by other means.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2009–2012 |title=OA journal business models |url=http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/OA_journal_business_models |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018182443/http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/OA_journal_business_models |archive-date=18 October 2015 |access-date=20 October 2015 |website=Open Access Directory}}</ref> Open access can be provided by commercial publishers, who may publish open access as well as subscription-based journals, or dedicated open-access publishers such as [[Public Library of Science]] (PLOS) and [[BioMed Central]]. Another source of funding for open access can be institutional subscribers. One example of this is the [[Subscribe to Open]] publishing model introduced by [[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]]; if the subscription revenue goal is met, the given journal's volume is published open access.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 March 2020 |title=Jisc supports Subscribe to Open model |url=https://www.researchinformation.info/news/jisc-supports-subscribe-open-model |access-date=6 October 2020 |website=Jisc}}</ref>

Advantages and disadvantages of open access have generated considerable discussion amongst researchers, academics, librarians, university administrators, funding agencies, government officials, commercial [[publisher]]s, editorial staff and [[learned society|society]] publishers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Markin |first=Pablo |date=25 April 2017 |title=The Sustainability of Open Access Publishing Models Past a Tipping Point |url=http://openscience.com/the-sustainability-of-open-access-publishing-models-past-a-tipping-point/ |access-date=26 April 2017 |website=[[OpenScience]] |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112000414/https://openscience.com/the-sustainability-of-open-access-publishing-models-past-a-tipping-point/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Reactions of existing publishers to open access journal publishing have ranged from moving with enthusiasm to a new open access business model, to experiments with providing as much free or open access as possible, to active lobbying against open access proposals. There are many publishers that started up as open access-only publishers, such as PLOS, [[Hindawi Publishing Corporation]], [[Frontiers Media|Frontiers in...]] journals, [[MDPI]] and BioMed Central.

==== Article processing charges ====
{{anchor|Author-pays model}}{{anchor|Fee-based}}
[[File:DOAJ APCs.png|thumb|Article processing charges by gold OA journals in DOAJ<ref name="Khing Phyo San"/>]]
{{see also|Article processing charge}}
Some open access journals (under the gold, and hybrid models) generate revenue by charging publication fees in order to make the work openly available at the time of publication.<ref name="Socha">{{Cite web |last=Socha |first=Beata |date=20 April 2017 |title=How Much Do Top Publishers Charge for Open Access? |url=http://openscience.com/how-much-do-top-publishers-charge-for-open-access/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219191851/https://openscience.com/how-much-do-top-publishers-charge-for-open-access/ |archive-date=19 February 2019 |access-date=26 April 2017 |website=openscience.com}}</ref><ref name="fuchs2013" /><ref name="Gaj">{{Cite journal |last=Gajović |first=S |date=31 August 2017 |title=Diamond Open Access in the quest for interdisciplinarity and excellence |journal=Croatian Medical Journal |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=261–262 |doi=10.3325/cmj.2017.58.261 |pmc=5577648 |pmid=28857518}}</ref> The money might come from the author but more often comes from the author's [[research grant]] or employer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peter |first=Suber |title=Open access |date=2012 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=9780262301732 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |oclc=795846161}}</ref> While the payments are typically incurred ''per article published'' (e.g. [[BMC journals|BMC]] or [[PLOS]] journals), some journals apply them ''per manuscript submitted'' (e.g. ''[[Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics]]'' until recently) or ''per author'' (e.g. [[PeerJ]]).

Charges typically range from $1,000–$3,000 ($5,380 for [[Nature Communications]])<ref name="GOA4" /><ref name="Khing Phyo San"/><ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.6087/kcse.227|title = Influence of open access journals on the research community in Journal Citation Reports|year = 2021|last1 = Kim|first1 = Sang-Jun|last2 = Park|first2 = Kay Sook|journal = Science Editing|volume = 8| issue=1 |pages = 32–38|s2cid = 233380569|doi-access = free}}</ref> but can be under $10,<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 March 2012 |title=An efficient journal |url=http://blogs.harvard.edu/pamphlet/2012/03/06/an-efficient-journal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118220214/http://blogs.harvard.edu/pamphlet/2012/03/06/an-efficient-journal/ |archive-date=18 November 2019 |access-date=27 October 2019 |website=The Occasional Pamphlet |language=en-US}}</ref> close to $5,000<ref>{{Cite web |title=Article processing charges |url=https://www.nature.com/ncomms/about/article-processing-charges |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027110805/https://www.nature.com/ncomms/about/article-processing-charges |archive-date=27 October 2019 |access-date=27 October 2019 |publisher=Nature Communications |language=en}}</ref> or well over $10,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publishing options |url=https://www.nature.com/nature/for-authors/publishing-options | publisher=Nature |language=en}}</ref> APCs vary greatly depending on subject and region and are most common in scientific and medical journals (43% and 47% respectively), and lowest in arts and humanities journals (0% and 4% respectively).<ref name="Kozak&Hartley">{{Cite journal |last1=Kozak |first1=Marcin |last2=Hartley |first2=James |date=December 2013 |title=Publication fees for open access journals: Different disciplines-different methods |journal=Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology |volume=64 |issue=12 |pages=2591–2594 |doi=10.1002/asi.22972}}</ref> APCs can also depend on a journal's impact factor.<ref name="Björk 2015">{{Cite journal |last1=Björk |first1=Bo-Christer |last2=Solomon |first2=David |year=2015 |title=Article Processing Charges in OA Journals: Relationship between Price and Quality |journal=Scientometrics |volume=103 |issue=2 |pages=373–385 |doi=10.1007/s11192-015-1556-z |s2cid=15966412}}</ref><ref name="Lawson 2014">{{Citation|last=Lawson |first=Stuart |year=2014 |title=APC Pricing |publisher=Figshare |doi=10.6084/m9.figshare.1056280.v3}}</ref><ref name="Björk 2014">{{Cite web |title=Developing an Effective Market for Open Access Article Processing Charges. |url=https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/developing-effective-market-for-open-access-article-processing-charges-mar14.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003011716/https://wellcome.ac.uk/sites/default/files/developing-effective-market-for-open-access-article-processing-charges-mar14.pdf |archive-date=3 October 2018 |access-date=28 August 2019}}</ref><ref name="Schönfelder 2018">{{Cite web|last=Schönfelder |first=Nina |year=2018 |title=APCs—Mirroring the Impact Factor or Legacy of the Subscription-Based Model? |url=https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2931061 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222093225/https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2931061 |archive-date=22 December 2019 |access-date=28 August 2019}}</ref> Some publishers (e.g. [[eLife]] and [[Ubiquity Press]]) have released estimates of their direct and indirect costs that set their APCs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 September 2016 |title=Setting a fee for publication |url=https://elifesciences.org/inside-elife/b6365b76/setting-a-fee-for-publication |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107002917/https://elifesciences.org/inside-elife/b6365b76/setting-a-fee-for-publication |archive-date=7 November 2017 |access-date=27 October 2019 |website=eLife |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ubiquity Press |url=https://www.ubiquitypress.com/site/publish/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021065134/https://www.ubiquitypress.com/site/publish/ |archive-date=21 October 2019 |access-date=27 October 2019 |website=www.ubiquitypress.com}}</ref> Hybrid OA generally costs more than gold OA and can offer a lower quality of service.<ref name="auto"/> A particularly controversial practice in hybrid open access journals is "[[Double dipping (publishing)|double dipping]]", where both authors and subscribers are charged.<ref name="Open access double dipping policy"/>

By comparison, journal subscriptions equate to $3,500–$4,000 per article published by an institution, but are highly variable by publisher (and some charge page fees separately). This has led to the assessment that there is enough money "within the system" to enable full transition to OA.<ref name="Schimmer 2015">{{Cite journal |last1=Schimmer |first1=Ralf |last2=Geschuhn |first2=Kai Karin |last3=Vogler |first3=Andreas |year=2015 |title=Disrupting the Subscription Journals" Business Model for the Necessary Large-Scale Transformation to Open Access |journal=MPG.PuRe Repository |doi=10.17617/1.3}}</ref> However, there is ongoing discussion about whether the change-over offers an opportunity to become more cost-effective or promotes more equitable participation in publication.<ref name="TenMyths">{{Cite journal |last1=Vanholsbeeck |first1=Marc |last2=Thacker |first2=Paul |last3=Sattler |first3=Susanne |last4=Ross-Hellauer |first4=Tony |last5=Rivera-López |first5=Bárbara S. |last6=Rice |first6=Curt |last7=Nobes |first7=Andy |last8=Masuzzo |first8=Paola |last9=Martin |first9=Ryan |last10=Kramer |first10=Bianca |last11=Havemann |first11=Johanna |date=11 March 2019 |title=Ten Hot Topics around Scholarly Publishing |journal=Publications |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=34 |doi=10.3390/publications7020034 |doi-access=free |first12=Asura |last12=Enkhbayar |first13=Jacinto |last13=Davila |first14=Tom |last14=Crick |first15=Harry |last15=Crane |first16=Jonathan P. |last16=Tennant}}</ref> Concern has been noted that increasing subscription journal prices will be mirrored by rising APCs, creating a barrier to less financially privileged authors.<ref name="Björk 2017b">{{Cite journal |last=Björk |first=B. C. |year=2017 |title=Growth of Hybrid Open Access |journal=PeerJ |volume=5 |pages=e3878 |doi=10.7717/peerj.3878 |pmc=5624290 |pmid=28975059 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Pinfield 2015">{{Cite journal |last1=Pinfield |first1=Stephen |last2=Salter |first2=Jennifer |last3=Bath |first3=Peter A. |year=2016 |title=The 'Total Cost of Publication" in a Hybrid Open-Access Environment: Institutional Approaches to Funding Journal Article-Processing Charges in Combination with Subscriptions |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/81227/1/TCP%20and%20OA%20revised%20JASIST%20WRRO.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology |volume=67 |issue=7 |pages=1751–1766 |doi=10.1002/asi.23446 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605221816/http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/81227/1/TCP%20and%20OA%20revised%20JASIST%20WRRO.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2019 |access-date=9 September 2019 |s2cid=17356533}}</ref><ref name="Green 2019">{{Cite journal |last=Green |first=Toby |year=2019 |title=Is Open Access Affordable? Why Current Models Do Not Work and Why We Need Internet-Era Transformation of Scholarly Communications |journal=Learned Publishing |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=13–25 |doi=10.1002/leap.1219|doi-access=free |s2cid=67869151 }}</ref>

The inherent bias of the current APC-based OA publishing perpetuates this inequality through the '[[Matthew effect]]' (the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer). The switch from pay-to-read to pay-to-publish has left essentially the same people behind, with some academics not having enough purchasing power (individually or through their institutions) for either option.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pourret|first1=Olivier|last2=Hedding|first2=David William|last3=Ibarra|first3=Daniel Enrique|last4=Irawan|first4=Dasapta Erwin|last5=Liu|first5=Haiyan|last6=Tennant|first6=Jonathan Peter|date=2021-06-10|title=International disparities in open access practices in the Earth Sciences|url=https://ese.arphahub.com/article/63663/|journal=European Science Editing|volume=47|pages=e63663|doi=10.3897/ese.2021.e63663|s2cid=236300530|issn=2518-3354 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Some gold OA publishers will waive all or part of the fee for authors from [[Developing country|less developed economies]]. Steps are normally taken to ensure that [[peer review]]ers do not know whether authors have requested, or been granted, fee waivers, or to ensure that every paper is approved by an independent editor with no financial stake in the journal.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} The main argument against requiring authors to pay a fee, is the risk to the [[peer review]] system, diminishing the overall quality of scientific journal publishing.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}

====Subsidized or no-fee{{anchor|No-fee}}====
No-fee open access journals, also known as "platinum" or "diamond"<ref name="fuchs2013" /><ref name="Gaj" /> do not charge either readers or authors.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Koroso |first=Nesru H. |date=18 November 2015 |title=Diamond Open Access – UA Magazine |work=UA Magazine |url=https://www.ua-magazine.com/diamond-open-access/ |url-status=live |access-date=11 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118173355/https://www.ua-magazine.com/diamond-open-access/ |archive-date=18 November 2018}}</ref> These journals use a variety of [[business model]]s including subsidies, advertising, membership dues, endowments, or volunteer labour.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Suber |first=Peter |date=2 November 2006 |title=No-fee open-access journals |url=http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/11-02-06.htm#nofee |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208133232/http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/11-02-06.htm#nofee |archive-date=8 December 2008 |access-date=14 December 2008 |website=SPARC open access Newsletter}}</ref><ref name="TenMyths" /> Subsidising sources range from universities, libraries and museums to foundations, [[Learned society|societies]] or government agencies.<ref name=":3" /> Some publishers may cross-subsidise from other publications or auxiliary services and products.<ref name=":3" /> For example, most APC-free journals in Latin America are funded by higher education institutions and are not conditional on institutional affiliation for publication.<ref name="TenMyths" /> Conversely, [[Knowledge Unlatched]] crowdsources funding in order to make monographs available open access.<ref name="Montgomery">{{Cite journal |last=Montgomery |first=Lucy |date=2014 |title=Knowledge Unlatched:A Global Library Consortium Model for Funding Open Access Scholarly Books |journal=Cultural Science |volume=7 |issue=2 |hdl=20.500.11937/12680}}</ref>

Estimates of prevalence vary, but approximately 10,000 journals without APC are listed in DOAJ<ref>{{Cite web |title=DOAJ search |url=https://doaj.org/search?source=%7B%22query%22%3A%7B%22filtered%22%3A%7B%22filter%22%3A%7B%22bool%22%3A%7B%22must%22%3A%5B%7B%22term%22%3A%7B%22_type%22%3A%22journal%22%7D%7D%2C%7B%22term%22%3A%7B%22index.has_apc.exact%22%3A%22No%22%7D%7D%5D%7D%7D%2C%22query%22%3A%7B%22match_all%22%3A%7B%7D%7D%7D%7D%2C%22from%22%3A0%2C%22size%22%3A10%7D |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831011412/https://doaj.org/search?source=%7B%22query%22%3A%7B%22filtered%22%3A%7B%22filter%22%3A%7B%22bool%22%3A%7B%22must%22%3A%5B%7B%22term%22%3A%7B%22_type%22%3A%22journal%22%7D%7D%2C%7B%22term%22%3A%7B%22index.has_apc.exact%22%3A%22No%22%7D%7D%5D%7D%7D%2C%22query%22%3A%7B%22match_all%22%3A%7B%7D%7D%7D%7D%2C%22from%22%3A0%2C%22size%22%3A10%7D |archive-date=31 August 2020 |access-date=30 June 2019}}</ref> and the [[Free Journal Network]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Mark |date=20 June 2018 |title=Introducing the Free Journal Network – community-controlled open access publishing |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2018/06/20/introducing-the-free-journal-network-community-controlled-open-access-publishing/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424130626/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2018/06/20/introducing-the-free-journal-network-community-controlled-open-access-publishing/ |archive-date=24 April 2019 |access-date=17 May 2019 |website=Impact of Social Sciences}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Is the EU's open access plan a tremor or an earthquake? |url=https://sciencebusiness.net/news/plan-s-blog-eus-open-access-plan-tremor-or-earthquake |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517023027/https://sciencebusiness.net/news/plan-s-blog-eus-open-access-plan-tremor-or-earthquake |archive-date=17 May 2019 |access-date=17 May 2019 |website=Science{{!}}Business}}</ref> APC-free journals tend to be smaller and more local-regional in scope.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Bastian |first=Hilda |date=2 April 2018 |title=A Reality Check on Author Access to Open Access Publishing |url=https://blogs.plos.org/absolutely-maybe/2018/04/02/a-reality-check-on-author-access-to-open-access-publishing/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222142157/https://blogs.plos.org/absolutely-maybe/2018/04/02/a-reality-check-on-author-access-to-open-access-publishing/ |archive-date=22 December 2019 |access-date=27 October 2019 |website=Absolutely Maybe |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Crotty |first=David |date=26 August 2015 |title=Is it True that Most Open Access Journals Do Not Charge an APC? Sort of. It Depends. |url=https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2015/08/26/do-most-oa-journals-not-charge-an-apc-sort-of-it-depends/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212155529/https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2015/08/26/do-most-oa-journals-not-charge-an-apc-sort-of-it-depends/ |archive-date=12 December 2019 |access-date=27 October 2019 |website=The Scholarly Kitchen |language=en-US}}</ref> Some also require submitting authors to have a particular institutional affiliation.<ref name=":4" />

=== Preprint use ===
[[File:Preprint postprint published.svg|thumb|Typical publishing workflow for an academic journal article ([[preprint]], [[postprint]], and [[Version of record|published]]) with open access sharing rights per [[SHERPA/RoMEO]]]]

A "[[preprint]]" is typically a version of a research paper that is shared on an online platform prior to, or during, a formal peer review process.<ref name="Ginsparg 2016">{{Cite journal |last=Ginsparg |first=P. |year=2016 |title=Preprint Déjà Vu |journal=The EMBO Journal |volume=35 |issue=24 |pages=2620–2625 |doi=10.15252/embj.201695531 |pmc=5167339 |pmid=27760783}}</ref><ref name="Tennant 2018b">{{Cite report |last1=Tennant |first1=Jonathan |last2=Bauin |first2=Serge |last3=James |first3=Sarah |last4=Kant |first4=Juliane |year=2018 |title=The Evolving Preprint Landscape: Introductory Report for the Knowledge Exchange Working Group on Preprints |doi=10.17605/OSF.IO/796TU |url=https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/796TU}}</ref><ref name="Neylon 2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Neylon |first1=Cameron |last2=Pattinson |first2=Damian |last3=Bilder |first3=Geoffrey |last4=Lin |first4=Jennifer |year=2017 |title=On the Origin of Nonequivalent States: How We Can Talk about Preprints |journal=F1000Research |volume=6 |pages=608 |doi=10.12688/f1000research.11408.1 |pmc=5461893 |pmid=28620459 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Preprint platforms have become popular due to the increasing drive towards open access publishing and can be publisher- or community-led. A range of discipline-specific or cross-domain platforms now exist.<ref name="Balaji 2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Balaji |first1=B. |last2=Dhanamjaya |first2=M. |year=2019 |title=Preprints in Scholarly Communication: Re-Imagining Metrics and Infrastructures |journal=Publications |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=6 |doi=10.3390/publications7010006 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The posting of pre-prints (or authors' manuscript versions) is consistent with the Green Open Access model.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

==== Effect of preprints on later publication ====

A persistent concern surrounding preprints is that work may be at risk of being plagiarised or "scooped" – meaning that the same or similar research will be published by others without proper attribution to the original source – if publicly available but not yet associated with a stamp of approval from peer reviewers and traditional journals.<ref name="Bourne 2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Bourne |first1=Philip E. |last2=Polka |first2=Jessica K. |last3=Vale |first3=Ronald D. |last4=Kiley |first4=Robert |year=2017 |title=Ten simple rules to consider regarding preprint submission |journal=PLOS Computational Biology |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=e1005473 |bibcode=2017PLSCB..13E5473B |doi=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005473 |pmc=5417409 |pmid=28472041 |doi-access=free }}</ref> These concerns are often amplified as competition increases for academic jobs and funding, and perceived to be particularly problematic for early-career researchers and other higher-risk demographics within academia.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

However, preprints, in fact, protect against scooping.<ref name="Sarabipour 2019b">{{Cite journal |last1=Sarabipour |first1=Sarvenaz |last2=Debat |first2=Humberto J. |last3=Emmott |first3=Edward |last4=Burgess |first4=Steven J. |last5=Schwessinger |first5=Benjamin |last6=Hensel |first6=Zach |year=2019 |title=On the Value of Preprints: An Early Career Researcher Perspective |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=e3000151 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000151 |pmc=6400415 |pmid=30789895 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Considering the differences between traditional peer-review based publishing models and deposition of an article on a preprint server, "scooping" is less likely for manuscripts first submitted as preprints. In a traditional publishing scenario, the time from manuscript submission to acceptance and to final publication can range from a few weeks to years, and go through several rounds of revision and resubmission before final publication.<ref name="Powell 2016">{{Cite journal |last=Powell |first=Kendall |year=2016 |title=Does It Take Too Long to Publish Research? |journal=Nature |volume=530 |issue=7589 |pages=148–151 |bibcode=2016Natur.530..148P |doi=10.1038/530148a |pmid=26863966 |doi-access=free |s2cid=1013588}}</ref> During this time, the same work will have been extensively discussed with external collaborators, presented at conferences, and been read by editors and reviewers in related areas of research. Yet, there is no official open record of that process (e.g., peer reviewers are normally anonymous, reports remain largely unpublished), and if an identical or very similar paper were to be published while the original was still under review, it would be impossible to establish provenance.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

Preprints provide a time-stamp at the time of publication, which helps to establish the "priority of discovery" for scientific claims.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vale |first1=Ronald D |last2=Hyman |first2=Anthony A |date=2016-06-16 |title=Priority of discovery in the life sciences |journal=eLife |volume=5 |pages=e16931 |doi=10.7554/eLife.16931 |doi-access=free |issn=2050-084X |pmc=4911212 |pmid=27310529}}</ref> This means that a preprint can act as proof of provenance for research ideas, data, code, models, and results.<ref name="Crick 2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Crick |first1=Tom |last2=Hall |first2=Benjamin A. |last3=Ishtiaq |first3=Samin |year=2017 |title=Reproducibility in Research: Systems, Infrastructure, Culture |journal=Journal of Open Research Software |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=32 |doi=10.5334/jors.73 |doi-access=free|arxiv=1503.02388 }}</ref> The fact that the majority of preprints come with a form of permanent identifier, usually a [[digital object identifier]] (DOI), also makes them easy to cite and track. Thus, if one were to be "scooped" without adequate acknowledgement, this would be a case of academic misconduct and plagiarism, and could be pursued as such.

There is no evidence that "scooping" of research via preprints exists, not even in communities that have broadly adopted the use of the [[arXiv]] server for sharing preprints since 1991. If the unlikely case of scooping emerges as the growth of the preprint system continues, it can be dealt with as academic malpractice. [[ASAPbio]] includes a series of hypothetical scooping scenarios as part of its preprint FAQ, finding that the overall benefits of using preprints vastly outweigh any potential issues around scooping.<ref group="note">{{Cite web |title=ASAPbio FAQ |url=http://asapbio.org/preprint-info/preprint-faq#qe-faq-923 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831011402/https://asapbio.org/preprint-info/preprint-faq#qe-faq-923 |archive-date=31 August 2020 |access-date=28 August 2019}}.</ref> Indeed, the benefits of preprints, especially for early-career researchers, seem to outweigh any perceived risk: rapid sharing of academic research, open access without author-facing charges, establishing priority of discoveries, receiving wider feedback in parallel with or before peer review, and facilitating wider collaborations.<ref name="Sarabipour 2019b" />

=== Archiving ===

The "green" route to OA refers to author self-archiving, in which a version of the article (often the peer-reviewed version before editorial typesetting, called "postprint") is posted online to an institutional or subject repository. This route is often dependent on journal or publisher policies,<ref group="note">{{Cite web |title=SHERPA/RoMEO |url=http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/index.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830211037/http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/index.php |archive-date=30 August 2019 |access-date=28 August 2019}} database.</ref> which can be more restrictive and complicated than respective "gold" policies regarding deposit location, license, and embargo requirements. Some publishers require an embargo period before deposition in public repositories,<ref name="Gadd 2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Gadd |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Troll Covey |first2=Denise |year=2019 |title=What Does "Green" Open Access Mean? Tracking Twelve Years of Changes to Journal Publisher Self-Archiving Policies |url=https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/21555 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Librarianship and Information Science |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=106–122 |doi=10.1177/0961000616657406 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831011405/https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/What_does_green_open_access_mean_Tracking_twelve_years_of_changes_to_journal_publisher_self-archiving_policies/9491174 |archive-date=31 August 2020 |access-date=28 August 2019 |s2cid=34955879}}</ref> arguing that immediate self-archiving risks loss of subscription income.

==== Embargo periods ====
[[File:Elsevier Embargo lengths.png|thumb|upright|Length of embargo times for bronze [[Elsevier|Elsevier journals]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Journal embargo finder |url=https://www.elsevier.com/en-au/about/open-science/open-access/journal-embargo-finder |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518051616/https://www.elsevier.com/en-au/about/open-science/open-access/journal-embargo-finder |archive-date=18 May 2019 |access-date=17 May 2019 |website=www.elsevier.com}}</ref>]] [[Embargo (academic publishing)|Embargoes]] are imposed by between 20 and 40% of journals,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Laakso |first=Mikael |date=1 May 2014 |title=Green open access policies of scholarly journal publishers: a study of what, when, and where self-archiving is allowed |journal=Scientometrics |language=en |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=475–494 |doi=10.1007/s11192-013-1205-3 |issn=1588-2861 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10138/157660 |s2cid=8225450}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Harnad |first=Stevan |title=Open access: what, where, when, how and why |date=2015 |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/361704/ |work=Ethics, Science, Technology, and Engineering: An International Resource |editor-last=Holbrook |editor-first=J. Britt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805201244/https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/361704/ |others=Stevan Harnad, J. Britt Holbrook, Carl Mitcham |publisher=Macmillan Reference |language=en |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |editor2-last=Mitcham |editor2-first=Carl |url-status=live}}</ref> during which time an article is paywalled before permitting self-archiving (green OA) or releasing a free-to-read version (bronze OA).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Laakso |first1=Mikael |last2=Björk |first2=Bo-Christer |date=2013 |title=Delayed open access: An overlooked high-impact category of openly available scientific literature |journal=Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology |language=en |volume=64 |issue=7 |pages=1323–1329 |doi=10.1002/asi.22856 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10138/157658}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bjork |first1=Bo-Christer |last2=Roos |first2=Annikki |last3=Lauri |first3=Mari |date=2009 |title=Scientific Journal Publishing: Yearly Volume and Open Access Availability |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ837278 |url-status=live |journal=Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |issn=1368-1613 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805203303/https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ837278 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |access-date=6 January 2020}}</ref> Embargo periods typically vary from 6–12 months in [[Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics|STEM]] and >12 months in [[humanities]], [[The arts|arts]] and [[social sciences]].<ref name="TenMyths" /> Embargo-free [[self-archiving]] has not been shown to affect [[Subscription business model|subscription revenue]],<ref name="Swan 2005">{{Cite journal |last1=Swan |first1=Alma |last2=Brown |first2=Sheridan |date=May 2005 |title=Open Access Self-Archiving: An Author Study |url=http://cogprints.org/4385/ |url-status=live |journal=Departmental Technical Report. UK FE and HE Funding Councils |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831011404/http://cogprints.org/4385/ |archive-date=31 August 2020 |access-date=28 August 2019}}</ref> and tends to increase readership and citations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ottaviani |first=Jim |date=22 August 2016 |editor-last=Bornmann |editor-first=Lutz |title=The Post-Embargo Open Access Citation Advantage: It Exists (Probably), It's Modest (Usually), and the Rich Get Richer (of Course) |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=11 |issue=8 |pages=e0159614 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1159614O |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0159614 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4993511 |pmid=27548723|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Suber |first=Peter |date=2014 |title=The evidence fails to justify publishers' demand for longer embargo periods on publicly-funded research. |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/01/14/suber-embargoes-on-publicly-funded-research/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304165051/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/01/14/suber-embargoes-on-publicly-funded-research/ |archive-date=4 March 2020 |access-date=6 January 2020 |website=LSA impact blog |language=en-US}}</ref> Embargoes have been lifted on particular topics for either limited times or ongoing (e.g. Zika outbreaks<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global scientific community commits to sharing data on Zika |url=https://wellcome.ac.uk/press-release/global-scientific-community-commits-sharing-data-zika |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221164316/https://wellcome.ac.uk/press-release/global-scientific-community-commits-sharing-data-zika |archive-date=21 December 2019 |access-date=6 January 2020 |website=wellcome.ac.uk |date=10 February 2016 |publisher=Wellcome}}</ref> or indigenous health<ref name=":16">{{Cite journal |title=About |url=https://www.mja.com.au/journal/about-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405032059/https://www.mja.com.au/journal/about-us |archive-date=5 April 2019 |access-date=12 June 2019 |journal=Medical Journal of Australia |publisher=Australasian Medical Publishing Company}}</ref>). [[Plan S]] includes zero-length embargoes on self-archiving as a key principle.<ref name="TenMyths" />