Advantages and Disadvantages of Open Access

1. Advantages & Disadvantages
of ‘Open Access’

2. 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)

4. 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.

5. 3.Improved Education
Advantages
• With
the
use
of
Open
Education
Resources
(OER),
students
can
improve
their
research
=indings
for
projects,
assignments
and
individual
learning.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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?

11. 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