Potentials and controversies in open access publishing: a spotlight on medicine

Abstract

The paper gives an overview of open access publishing (OAP) within the medical field. Tracing the evolution from traditional print to digital dissemination, the article highlights OAP's transformative impact on scholarly communication. Emphasizing the benefits of unrestricted access to scientific literature, the paper looks into diverse OAP models and examines supporting policies from political and academic bodies. The challenges such as article processing charges (APCs), potential erosion of peer-review credibility, and the proliferation of predatory journals are also addressed. The paper suggests that questions on future sustainability and dominance of OA scholarly publishing models still remain open.