Advantages & Disadvantages of ‘Open Access’
Advantages
1. Visibility
• More people are likely to see it when articles are published in an Open Access account
• A study showed the proven statistics of more readers on OA accounts compared to subscription accounts (See next slide)
2.Greater Opportunity for research ideas interchanged and developed
Advantages
• With open access, people can read and build on the =indings of others without restrictions.
3.Improved Education
Advantages
• With the use of Open Education Resources (OER), students can improve their research =indings for projects, assignments and individual learning.
3. Improved Education
Advantages
• OER exist for all levels of education, from kindergarten through college; [1] thus, it allows educational institutions to improve the quality of learning materials, which enhance students’ learning.
• Additionally, with free access to many educational resources, it lessens the school’s overall expenditure, which brings down the cost of education for students.
4.Access for researches in developing countries
Advantages
• Open Access helps these researchers to have the opportunity to participate in the international research community.
• A common problem faced by researches in developing countries is the lack of access to subscription-‐based journals
1.Publication Fees
Disadvantages
1. The author has the responsibility to pay for the costs of publication, and in times of austerity and funding cuts, this can discourage researches from going open-‐access
2.Lack of Quality Control
Disadvantages
Regarding less reputable publishers, open access models may incentivise journals to publish more articles.
Thus, this drives publishers to publish more articles to cover their cost, hence reducing overall quality.
3. Sustainability
Disadvantages
• Some argue that traditional paid access models ensure publishers are adequately compensated for substantial role they play
Will Open access models sustainably support the research publication infrastructure in the long term?
3. Sustainability
Disadvantages
This outlook is likely to see the end of the ‘free for all’ online culture with two thirds of media companies expecting fees to be introduced for most of the content available online. - Stephen Lepitak