Open Access in Scholarly Publishing: Embracing Principles and Avoiding Pitfalls

Abstract

Open Access (OA) in scholarly publishing has gained momentum over the past decade, expanding in advocacy and application. While there is consensus around the intent and goals of the open access movement, the various stakeholders, such as scholars, researchers, publishers, academic institutions, scholarly societies, and librarians, all offer different approaches to that end. This article traces some of the literature assessing different models of OA publishing; considers how the current status of OA compares to the initial goals set forth in the Budapest Open Access Initiative; and explores ways academic libraries can move beyond reiterating the ideals of OA to educating researchers and helping them navigate the realities of OA publishing.

False gold: Safely navigating open access publishing to avoid predatory publishers and journals

“…These highly flattering emails are often written poorly, with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors and contain unrealistic promises of rapid review and acceptance for publication (Stone & Rossiter, ; Vinny et al., ). Further examples of deceptive practice include using journal titles or website designs that closely resemble authentic journals (Quinn, ) and manipulating or lying about impact factors. Impact factor reflects the average number of citations for each article published in a journal in the preceding 2 years.…”

“…Form of unethical scholarly practice or research misconduct Publishers use solicitation techniques to invite researchers to submit papers and join editorial boards Journals lack acceptable peer review and editorial oversight Papers published in these journals are unlikely to be read or used, as many are not indexed or searchable Predatory publishing is more common in countries where academic evaluation practices favour international publication Authors are not always unwitting victims, but may take a calculated risk to publish in predatory journals, to publish in "international" journals Akers, 2016;Beall, 2013Beall, , 2016Clark & Thompson, 2012;Clemons et al, 2017;Darbyshire et al, 2016;Hansoti et al, 2016;Haug, 2013;Manca et al, 2017;Pearson, 2016;Pickler et al, 2015;Quinn, 2015;Shamseer et al, 2017;Shen & Bj€ ork, 2015;Stone & Rossiter, 2015 Risks of predatory publishing Has created a negative image of OA generally Use of poor quality research published in these journals is a threat to evidence-based practice and undermines scholarship Journals are not indexed in reputable databases, which limits the reach of even high quality papers, as regular search techniques do not identify their content Beall, 2016;Clark & Thompson, 2016;Darbyshire et al, 2016;Jones & McCullough, 2014;Manca et al, 2017;Pickler et al, 2015;Shamseer et al, 2017;Smith, 2015;Stone & Rossiter, 2015;Vinny et al, 2016 Authors' responsibilities Understand how to recognize predatory journals, and the adverse consequences of publishing in them Perform due diligence when considering where to submit a paper: Be suspicious of claim of rapid peer review and publishing processes Check reputable online databases for journal indexing Check the journal's editor credentials and contact details Ensure that the peer review process is transparent Beall, 2013;Clark & Thompson, 2012Clemons et al, 2017;Crowe...…”

“…Thanks to the Internet, open access (OA) scholarly publishing continues to proliferate. The central premise of the OA process is that peer‐reviewed research should be available online at no cost to the reader and with few usage restrictions (Crowe & Carlyle, ; Quinn, ). Overall, OA has worked to researchers’ advantage, as readers can access peer‐reviewed research as soon as it is published online (Pickler et al., ).…”

“…"Green", "Gold" and "Diamond" or "Platinum" OA (Quinn, 2015) ( Table 1). Broadly, Green OA is a form of self-archiving, by which researchers deposit manuscripts in online repositories or on websites, before or after they have been published (Fuchs & Sandoval, 2013).…”

“…All three calls to action shared the common goal of making peer‐reviewed research papers available online, free and without usage restrictions (Wolpert, ). The OA movement encourages the use of different, co‐existing models: “Green”, “Gold” and “Diamond” or “Platinum” OA (Quinn, ) (Table ). Broadly, Green OA is a form of self‐archiving, by which researchers deposit manuscripts in online repositories or on websites, before or after they have been published (Fuchs & Sandoval, ).…”