What is an Open Access article?

An Open Access (OA) article is a scholarly publication freely accessible online to readers without subscription fees or most licensing barriers. Its defining characteristic is immediate, unrestricted availability. Open Access operates primarily under two models: Gold OA involves publishing in journals making articles immediately open, often involving Article Processing Charges (APCs); Green OA involves self-archiving an accepted manuscript in an institutional or subject repository, typically after an embargo period. Key principles include granting users broad reuse rights, facilitated by Creative Commons licenses. Applicable to all research outputs, OA aims to maximize dissemination and use. Important considerations involve understanding publisher policies, licensing terms, sustainable funding models, and repository standards. OA publishing enhances global knowledge dissemination, significantly increasing the visibility, readership, and potential citation impact of research. It facilitates broader interdisciplinary and public access to scientific findings, accelerates innovation, supports evidence-based policymaking, and enables text/data mining. This model contributes substantially to the societal return on research investment by democratizing information.