To those who are not familiar with the term, Open Access refers to journals who give readers the ability to access journal articles for free without needing to pay the usual journal subscription.

There has been a debate recently about the economics involved in Open Access publishing that has raised some interesting questions about how this evolution of medical publising is going to play out. The most pertinent question should probably be ‘Who Pays?’.

The latest debate was sparked by an article in the journal, Nature entitle, ‘Open-access journal hits rocky times’. Luckily for readers of this blog post, Nature publishes it’s news stories online in full so you can read it here. The piece describes how the Open Access journal publisher and advocate for the Open Access movement, PLoS, is relying on philanthropic donations to stay afloat.

PLoS does not charge a subscription fee to readers but rather charges authors $1500 (soon to become $2500) to publish.

Reaction to the story on Nature’s Newsblog has been largely critical, with Paul Peters from Hindawi Publishing (an Open Access journal publisher), stating that it’s open access journal collection has already achieved profitability.

It seems to me that Open Access publishing has many potential benefits, not just for the scientific community but also by bringing in those who would not normally consult the scientific literature. It is imperitive that Open Access journals are able to afford the same careful checks and balances that traditional publishers apply to articles they publish. If they are struggling financially, mistakes may be made and the evidence base we rely on in medicine may be tarnished. It will be interesting to follow this story to see how PLoS manages to balance its books and produce sustainable, high quality publications without charging subscription fees.

By publishing on the web, Open Access journals can reach potentially very large audiences. Not just the scientific community, but people who would normally never open a scientific journal. Perhaps those researching a new diagnosis they have been given by their doctor, or even just interested web-surfers. This brings new costs but also new revenue opportunities through advertising to this wider audience.