Open Access is complex. In some ways, it is too complex for the mission it is trying to achieve: make research available to all who want to read it as long as they have an internet connection.
One of the main issues is the cost of Open Access. Most authors raise this as a concern and oftentimes will say that of course they would choose Open Access but it is too expensive and creates inequality. Institutions with deep pockets can pay for Open Access, less well endowed institutions will find their work behind a paywall. This issue was already clear in the realm of journal articles, it might become even worse as we head towards a requirement for long-form publications (monographs (books), edited collections and book chapters) to be Open Access.
The UKRI Open Access policy is already requiring long-form publications to be Open Access and has set aside some money to fund it.
REF2029 is heading towards a similar requirement but that comes with no money.
In the realm of articles, while Read and Publish (or transitional agreements) with publishers helped to make research open access, they are problematic in that not all institutions can take all the deals available, and at the current rate, it would take 70 years to to flip all journals to Open Access with this current model.
But the money problem is really only a problem if we focus on the so-called gold route to Open Access: when the version of record - that is the version published on the publishers website- is Open Access. Yes, this generally incurs a fee.
Yet, there is a way to make articles Open Access for free. This is the so-called green route. In this version of Open Access, the author accepted manuscript is made Open Access on a subject or institutional repository (SURE for the University of Sunderland). There are some barriers to green:
-some publishers require embargoes (they can only be released after a period of time - 0 to 24 months after the date of publication in most cases).
-authors are unsure what is the author accepted manuscript or it is difficult to locate if you are not the corresponding author.
- the word document might feel like an imperfect version of the article.
Yet, it's value in making articles Open Access is huge. It is a FREE route to Open Access. It allows research to be seen and read by more people. This version of the article has been peer-reviewed - the voluntary work undertaken by academics for the dissemination of good and valuable research has already taken place: author, editors and peer-reviewers have done their part of the work.
It might be time to start thinking again about what the author accepted manuscript is in relation to the so-called version of record. In the word of Daniel Hook (Digital Science) during a plenary at the UKSG conference in April 2024, the version of record is actually a version of esteem and part of the prestige economy that is currently embedded int he academic world.
For the dissemination of research, the author accepted manuscript is more valuable if it is accessible to all in an institutional repository.
