Journal article access: Free, open, and subscription

Abstract

The quick changing professional publishing world has expanded to include new approaches to article publication that can benefit both authors and readers. These changes have resulted in new nomenclature to learn and absorb and have resulted in confusion about what free and open access really mean. Both “free” and “open” mean that the articles are available to anyone to read without charge but the meaning and implications for authors is quite different. An article that is accessed through a paid subscription can also have important considerations for authors and readers. Each access category is affected by cost, availability, transparency, copyright, usage, and audience perception. We aim to provide a brief overview of important free, open, and subscription (subscription only and subscription hybrid) factors and qualify the frequently used terms and their meaning for article access. Table 1 provides a quick reference for understanding article publication and access. Look at the copyright: All free and subscription articles will show the copyright to the journal, publisher, or society, such as: © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd © AORN, Inc., 2022 All open access articles will show the copyright to the author(s): © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. In most cases, if you can access an article with no restrictions, it is either open or free access. As illustrated above, open access articles will show copyright to the authors, and free access articles will show copyright to the journal, publisher, or society. Failed attempts to access articles usually means they are available through subscription only. Users are usually then offered an opportunity to buy individual articles. Table 2 shows how access to articles might appear from three publishers. A major driver for the development and interest in the open access movement is cost. Several cost related factors that spurred the open access movement included increased costs for journal subscriptions incurred by individual readers and libraries and the perception of the profit margin for publishing companies.1 The increase in availability typical of content published in the open access model has an ethical basis. Because of the large amount of public funding for research, the trend is to make study results freely accessible to a wider scope of stakeholders such as providers and patients.1, 2 This has led to strong support among funders for this model of publishing.3 Content published using an open access model expands availability to readers who are not part of an academic setting. Students and faculty from smaller universities with more limited budgets can benefit from open access content. Authors may also perceive this potential increase in readers as a benefit.4, 5 Open access models allow stakeholders to both view and participate in the research process. Self-archiving of work by authors, also known as green open access, can include published manuscripts but most often features preprint versions of accepted manuscripts.1 Often funded by organizations, these can be found on personal homepages; in institutional repositories such as libraries at academic institutions, large healthcare facilities, and professional societies; and in subject-based repositories. Advanced indexing services and search engines have opened this content to a wider audience. A new concept, Open Science, further increases the transparency of peer review processes, preprints of research, and open access models supporting the goals of funders for immediacy and accountability.1 Transparency related to the publishing process is also important. The perception that the article processing charge (APC) is paid to have an article accepted for publication by a journal, and the actual practice of this, has led to the rise in unethical publishing practices by predatory journals.1 A discussion of the impact of open access publishing on predatory publishing behaviors is beyond the scope of this article; however, it is important to note that reputable journals do not link the APC to acceptance for publication. Author guidelines and publication policies should be clear and readily available for review. The Directory of Open Access Journals has been a resource for information about credible open access publishing since 2003.4, 6 At its inception, this independent index included 300 journals and currently lists over 17,000 peer-reviewed open access journals. Directory of Open Access Journals has partnerships with organizations such as the Creative Commons Global Network and the Committee on Publication Ethics. The mission of this organization is to support open access and provide free services and metadata for use or reuse by everyone. In sum, multiple factors have provided the foundation to initiate and escalate the open access movement.1, 2, 7 Table 3 offers a brief summary of the arguments that have supported open access publishing. Gold Open Access is the most common type of journal open access article publication. The journal is mainly and/or usually supported by the payment of an APC by an author, funder, country, or institution. Authors sign a Creative Commons9 open access license and retain copyright. Articles can be accessed by anyone globally with no restrictions. Article publication is paid by the journal, publisher, or society and articles can only be accessed through a paid subscription. All authors sign a copyright transfer license and do not retain copyright. The journal does not publish open access articles but may publish some free access articles which can be accessed by anyone globally with no restrictions. The concepts of open access and free are not the same.1, 5 Watson noted that, “at some point in the process someone or some institution has to pay something. Publishing costs money.”8 With open access models, typically authors, funders, or institutions pay an APC, as opposed to the reader or institutional subscription that has traditionally funded publications. This replaces the income the publisher traditionally makes via subscriptions.1 Hybrid publishing models distribute the cost between readers and authors as they will publish both open access and subscription access papers. Many such journals also publish free access articles.5 Finally, diamond (also called platinum) open access requires no fee from readers or authors; this is a rare model typically supported by foundations.1 Depending on the type of publication license that an author signs, there may be restrictions controlling how freely they can share their published works in subscription access models. In most cases, the society that owns the journal or the publisher retains copyright. This can restrict some or many aspects of use and reuse of an article without appropriate permission, once published. Open access publishing models address copyright through Creative Commons licenses that delineate situational use for article content.1, 4, 9 There are six Creative Commons licenses that permit use of materials, and users can perceive this as intimidating. Watson1 has noted that authors need not have extensive knowledge about Creative Commons licenses. Resources are available on the Creative Commons website (creativecommons.org) to help you understand how to use your open access content or that of others. Subscriptions (as well as advertising and other revenue streams) pay for article publication (subscription only), or authors can choose Open Access and pay an APC (subscription hybrid). The articles published by subscription can only be accessed by those who have access through paid subscriptions and open access articles can be accessed by anyone globally with no restrictions. The journal may also publish select free access articles which can be accessed by anyone globally with no restrictions. Subscription articles use the copyright transfer license and the author does not retain copyright. Open access articles use a Creative Commons license and authors retain copyright. In publications with free access, such as the one you are reading, Nurse Author & Editor, articles are free for authors to publish and free for readers to access. Journals, publishers, and/or societies cover the publication costs. Authors sign a copyright transfer license and do not retain copyright. Most journals make free access content available for marketing and promotional purposes. Journals with all free access content are often supported by advertising or professional societies. Articles can be accessed by anyone globally with no restrictions. Many articles originally published as subscription access can become free access (called delayed access). In this case, some content is embargoed (e.g., for members or paid subscribers only, often mandated by organizations who have funded the paper) but eventually is released to become free access. As the open access model continues to grow, publishers, authors, and readers have adapted as best and as rapidly as they can. Many authors may still hesitate to submit their work to open access journals, often because they are confused by the process, lack understanding of the various options, or have appropriate fear of publishing in a predatory journal. Despite these hesitations, legitimate open access publishing is here to stay and information about the benefits and process is readily available. Authors who disseminate funded research findings may find that they have no choice but to pursue this type of publishing venue as it becomes mandated by their institutions and the norm for publishing academic work in the next decade and beyond.1 Careful scrutiny of options and processes can help potential authors and readers to make the best access choices based on their situation and needs. Jaqueline K. Owens, PhD, RN, CNE is a professor of nursing at Ashland, University Schar College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Ashland, OH. She is Editor-in-Chief of OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Prior to this position, she served as Associate Editor from 2007 to 2011 and became the journal's first Editorial Assistant in 2003. Jackie has presented many writing workshops for nurses at regional research days throughout Ohio. Areas of interest are online scholarly publishing, predatory publishing practices, and novice author publication. She is also a member of the Authors-in-Residence for Nurse Author & Editor. Vickie Thaw is a publisher at Wiley, Inc. and is the team leader for the company's nursing journal portfolio. Prior to this position, she has served in various professional health science publishing roles since 1990. Areas of interest are the continued growth of digital publishing and how that intersects with journals that are also still in print, and how she can generally support nurses, the largest professional segment in the health sciences.