Open Access is the free online availability of research publications coupled with the rights to use and reuse those publications.
Find the widest possible audience for your work
Advance human knowledge and improve lives
Include everyone in the discourse around your work
Speed up the research and discovery process
Adapted from "Key OA Benefits" by SPARC Europe, licensed under CC BY 4.0
No. This is a common misperception. A journal can be predatory and open access, but many high quality journals are published open access. View the tab titled "Predatory Journals" at the top of the page to learn more about avoiding deceptive, or predatory, publishers.
Many open access journals must charge a fee Article Processing Charges (APCs) to sustain their publishing model. View our Open Access Support and Author's Rights Guides for more information on options for open access publishing.