Last updated: April 2026 · 8 min read · Audience: Authors, students, early-career researchers · Reading level: Introductory
Introduction
Open access is the publishing model in which articles are freely available to readers without subscription or paywall. The shift toward open access has been one of the most significant changes in academic publishing since the move from print to online. Like any large change, it has produced both clear benefits and genuine costs.
This page surveys the impact across several dimensions. It does not advocate; both open-access and subscription publishing produce credible work, and the choice often involves trade-offs.
Impact across dimensions
| Dimension | Effect of open access |
|---|---|
| Reader access | Substantially expanded; particularly for non-academic and less-resourced readers |
| Author cost | Shifted from zero (in subscription) to APC (in many open-access) |
| Citation reach | Generally higher for open-access in many fields |
| Predatory venues | Increased; the author-pays model is what predatory venues exploit |
| Funder relationships | Changed; many funders now require open-access publication |
| Institutional budgets | Mixed; subscription savings offset by APC costs in some cases |
Benefits clearly attributable to open access
Reader access has expanded materially. Researchers at less-resourced institutions, non-academic professionals (clinicians, policymakers, journalists, practitioners), and global audiences all read open-access work more easily than paywalled work. The effect is particularly visible in fields where readers outside academia have substantial use for the research.
Citation reach is often higher for open-access articles, though the effect varies by field and is hard to isolate from other factors. Discoverability through open repositories and search engines is generally easier.
Costs and concerns
Other concerns include the inequality between authors with institutional APC funding and those without, the rise of hybrid journals that charge both subscriptions and APCs, and the difficulty of distinguishing credible from predatory open-access venues without verification.
Decision guidance
For authors, the open-access decision should follow the audience and the budget. If readers outside well-resourced academic institutions matter for the work, open access offers real value. If funding is limited, the choice expands beyond the dichotomy: subscription, diamond open-access, low-APC open-access, and waiver-eligible high-APC are all viable paths.
Example scenarios
Scenario: a master's student choosing between models
Students whose work has practical applications (in education, public health, social services) benefit more from open access than those whose audience is concentrated at well-resourced research universities. The reader-access difference is real for the practitioner audience.
Scenario: a PhD researcher with funder mandate
Increasing numbers of funders require open-access publication. The relevant question becomes which open-access route fits — author-pays APC, transformative agreement, hybrid open-access, or repository deposit. The library is usually the right resource for navigating funder requirements.
Scenario: an early-career researcher in a low-income region
Authors from waiver-eligible countries can typically publish in major open-access journals at no cost. The waiver should be requested at submission. The audience reach in this case combines the open-access benefit with the cost mitigation; the model often works particularly well.
What to do next
Identify whether your audience benefits from open access and whether your budget supports it. Both factors should inform journal selection. Authors targeting EP Journals Group venues can review the open-access policies on each journal's site.
Frequently asked questions
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Related reading and next steps
- Submission portal — Submit a manuscript through the central form
- Journals list — Six peer-reviewed journals across disciplines
- Understanding open access
- Understanding APCs
- Open access vs subscription
- Low-cost research journals
Editorial enquiries
Questions about this guide or about preparing a manuscript for submission may be directed to the editorial office. Where a query relates to a specific journal in the portfolio, please indicate the journal abbreviation in your message.
Email: editor@ep-journals.org