How Open Access Journals Are Changing Scholarly Communication

Research was primarily communicated via subscription journals for a number of years. A researcher would conduct a study, publish it in a journal, have it peer reviewed, and then, read by journal subscribers or access institutionally.

That system remains but scholarly communication is evolving.

The rise of open access journals has enabled research to be more readily accessible to readers. Scientific work can be shared with students and other readers (even research ones), without relying on a subscription.

Open Access isn't just a 'remove the paywall' issue. It's transforming access to, discovery of, and sharing, evaluation, and use of research.

It is for this reason that open access publishing has become a significant component of today's scholarly communication.

What Is Open Access Publishing?

So, what is open access publishing?

Open access publishing is a model in which scholarly research is made available online without the traditional subscription barrier. Depending on the publishing licence and model, readers may also be able to download, share, or reuse the research.

This is a wider perspective that's crucial.

Open Access is more than a question of access to read an article. It also impacts on what happens to that research post-publication and its accessibility to subsequent academic research.

How Does Open Access Publishing Work?

One of the frequent queries from new model researchers is how does open access publishing operate?

The fundamentals of publication are still known.

A researcher:

• Completes the research.
• Prepares the manuscript.
• Selects an appropriate journal.
• Submits the paper.
• Goes through editorial screening and peer review.
• Makes revisions when required.
• Receives a final decision.
• Publishes the article if it is accepted.
• Makes the research openly available according to the journal's publishing model.

The difference is the way the published research is disseminated.

Some journals publish immediately articles as open access. Other solutions are repositories or mixed solutions. There is also different funding. Article Processing Charges (APCs) are sometimes required by some journals or Diamond or Platinum models do not require any APCs from authors or readers.

So, open access journal publication does not always mean that the researcher has to personally pay a publication fee.

From Traditional Publishing to Open Scholarly Communication

One simple way to understand the change is to compare the traditional process with a more open model.

Traditional Publishing	Open Scholarly Communication
Research is submitted to a journal	Research can move through journals, repositories and other open channels
Peer review evaluates the manuscript	Peer review remains an important part of evaluation
Article is published	Article can be made openly accessible
Access may depend on subscriptions	Readers can access available open articles directly
Research may have a limited readership	Research can reach a wider audience
Communication mainly centres around publication	Communication can continue through sharing, discussion and reuse
Journal is the main communication point	Journals become part of a wider research ecosystem

Open Access connects these stages more closely.

Instead of seeing publication as the end, research can continue through:

That shift is one of the most important ways open access academic journals are influencing scholarly communication.

How Open Access Changes the Way Researchers Access Knowledge

The most obvious change is access.

Suppose the researcher is doing a literature review. They locate a paper that is very relevant to their topic, but they cannot get the article without a subscription. When this is not available in their school, they may struggle to access the information.

An open access article does just that.

It becomes a lot easier:

This is one of the key open access publishing benefits: research can be accessible to those who might not have access to the big subscription collections.

How Open Access Supports Research Dissemination

If research doesn't get to the right people, it's not useful.

Open access is one more aspect of this process.

If an article is made open access, it will freely circulate between researchers and other readers.

The simplified communication flow is as follows:

This reduces the reliance on one access point for dissemination.

How Open Access Supports Global Research Collaboration

The research is becoming more collaborative, and the use of previous studies is also becoming important in the research process.

A researcher might require literature from another institution, another country or even another discipline. If the research is published and easily accessible, it will be easier to work from the same body of knowledge.

A research project on climate change can include work in environmental science, geography, economics, engineering and public policy.

Open Access does not automatically create collaboration, of course. Researchers still need shared interests, resources, and opportunities to work together. But easier access can make it simpler to discover relevant research and connect ideas from different areas.

How Open Access Changes Research Discovery

The availability of a paper is just a part of the process.

It has to be discovered by researchers, too.

This is where discoverability comes into play.

Research is available and can be found via:

• Journal platforms
• Institutional repositories
• Digital libraries
• Research databases
• Search systems
• Article metadata
• DOI records
• Academic networks

This suggests that a successful open access research goes beyond an open article.

The article should also be:

Making a paper available does not necessarily mean that it becomes part of a broader conversation of research.

Why Publication Is No Longer the End of Scholarly Communication

So one of the other more interesting things that have happened with modern publishing, is what happens post publication.

Once a research article is published in a journal, it doesn't end there.

It can continue to be:

• Read by researchers
• Included in future literature reviews
• Shared with colleagues
• Cited in new studies
• Used in teaching
• Discussed by academic communities
• Used as a basis for further research

This establishes a vicious circle:

The publication of the research in Open Access further enhances this broader perspective by making the published research more accessible.

How Open Access Makes Research Easier to Reuse

Access and reuse are not necessarily synonymous.

The text of a paper can be freely accessed for reading, and the definitions of what can and can't be reproduced and/or modified or otherwise shared will depend upon the copyright and licence of the paper.

Open research can help in cases of reuse:

• Teaching
• Academic presentations
• Literature reviews
• Further research
• Knowledge sharing
• Research analysis
• Wider dissemination

This forms a consistent and significant thought:

How Open Access Takes Research Beyond Academia

Traditionally, scholarly communication has been centered around communication between researchers.

By championing Open Access, it can increase the audience.

Open access articles can also be helpful to:

• Students
• Teachers
• Policymakers
• Industry professionals
• Organisations
• Independent researchers
• Members of the public

The accompanying paper provides a connection between Open Access and increased public engagement and access to scholarly information.

For instance, education research might be applicable to teachers and education policymakers. Knowledge about social problems can be of interest beyond academic settings.

The reason that Open Access is important to scholarly communication is that research can move beyond the scholarly community where it was created.

What Are the Types of Open Access?

There are several types of open access, and each one works differently.

Type of Open Access	How It Works
Gold Open Access	The article is made openly available through the journal after publication.
Green Open Access	The author deposits an appropriate version of the research in a repository.
Hybrid Open Access	A subscription journal provides an Open Access option for individual articles.
Diamond/Platinum Open Access	Neither the author nor reader is charged, with the journal supported through other funding sources.

Are All Open Access Journals High Quality?

No.

This is an important point for anyone considering open access academic journals.

Free access does not automatically tell you whether a journal follows good academic and editorial practices.

Researchers should still look at:

• Peer-review procedures
• Editorial standards
• Journal scope
• Publication ethics
• Indexing information
• Journal credentials
• Copyright and licensing
• Publication charges
• Preservation arrangements

This is especially important because predatory open access journals remain a concern.

So researchers should not choose a journal simply because it offers quick publication or free access.

The better approach is to look for high quality open access journals with transparent publishing and review practices.

Open Access Publishing Benefits and Challenges

There are several clear open access publishing benefits, but the model also has problems.

Benefits	Challenges
Wider access to research	Article Processing Charges
Greater readership	Predatory journals
Faster dissemination	Sustainability of funding
Greater research visibility	Copyright and licensing issues
Supports collaboration	Inequality between regions
Supports interdisciplinary research	Quality and peer-review concerns
Greater public engagement	Discoverability and indexing
Easier sharing where permitted	Digital preservation requirements

That is why the future of Open Access is not merely about increasing the number of articles that are free to access. It's also a matter of helping publications in fair and equitable ways.

The Role of Diamond Open Access

Diamond Open Access is of particular interest since it has tackled the cost question in a different way.

Under this model:

Reader pays: No

Author pays: No

Funding: Supported through institutions, organisations, or other sources.

But this isn't to say there's no cost for Diamond OA. There is still an editorial process, technology, hosting, preservation and other resources that journals require. The difference is who pays for that.

Is Open Access Changing the Role of Peer Review?

Open Access does NOT eliminate the need for peer review.

This is an interesting prospect for the future.

Some models might make more visible and integrate a part of the peer review process with the research itself, rather than treating it as something that occurred privately before publishing.

The model will evolve further but the key message is that Open Access is challenging the researchers' thinking around the topic not just of access, but also about the evaluation and communication of scholarly work.

Open Access and the Future of Scholarly Communication

The future doesn't have to be based on one model.

Rather, knowledge sharing may be a more interwoven system:

These views illustrate that the future of scholarly communication is not just to be defined by altering the access models of journals.

It can also include modifications in the methods of appraising research, locating it, disseminating it and maintaining a record of it.

Final Thoughts

Open Access journals are transforming scholarly communication in the following key ways:

They can improve the accessibility of research, facilitate the spread of research, promote collaborations, assist interdisciplinary researchers in locating relevant research and provide non-academic researchers with an opportunity to connect with research.

However, there are problems with Open Access.

The most important thing is not so much:

It's a more general trend towards:

This is the reason that Open Access publishing is a crucial component of the new scholarly communication environment.

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