Open access journals

Open access journals are scholarly journals that make their articles freely available to the public, without any subscription or paywall restrictions. Here are some key points about open access journals:

1. An open journal allows anyone to read, download and share articles without financial or legal barriers.

2. Open access journals benefit researchers by increasing the visibility and effectiveness of their work by reaching a wider audience.

3. Open access journals usually undergo peer review to ensure the quality and validity of published articles.

4. Open access journals vary, including diamond/platinum, gold, and hybrid open access journals.

• Diamond/Platinum open access journals do not charge publication or article processing fees and are fully funded by institutions or organizations.

• Golden Open Access journals charge a publication fee (also known as article processing fees or APCs) to cover publishing costs such as editing, production and hosting.

• Hybrid open access journals are traditional subscription-based journals that offer authors the opportunity to convert their individual articles to open access by paying an APC.

Some notable open access journal publishers are e.g.

• DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals): DOAJ is a community-run online directory that indexes and provides access to high-quality, peer-reviewed open access journals.

• Elsevier: Elsevier offers a wide range of open access journals in various fields. Their open-access articles are peer-reviewed and immediately and permanently free to read and download.

• PLOS (Public Library of Science): PLOS publishes a number of influential open-access journals covering various fields of science and medicine. Their articles are accurately reported, peer-reviewed and immediately available without restrictions.

• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): IEEE offers both fully open access and hybrid access journals in several fields. They offer opportunities for authors to publish their research and make transformative deals with funders.

• Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press offers free access to both journals and books. They have agreements with institutions and funders to fund open publishing as well as support green open access and self-archiving of accepted manuscripts.

• ACS (American Chemical Society): ACS offers both full access journals and transformative journals that offer open access options. They support various ways for authors to publish their research as open access, including reading and publishing agreements and depositing in open access repositories.

It is important to note that this list is not exhaustive and many other reputable open access journal publishers are available. Researchers should carefully consider the scope, reputation and publication criteria of each journal before submitting an article. In addition, authors should be aware of any publication fees associated with open access journals and consider funding opportunities available to them through institutions or funding agencies.