Open Access Reference Site
Growing advocacy for transparency and access to results of clinical trials has prompted considerable debate on the topic of open access publishing and highlighted a lack of common understanding of what open access is, why it is important, and how it works. Consistent with our goal of promoting greater transparency in industry-sponsored publications, MPIP has developed this resource to raise awareness of open access, including its importance in meeting shared transparency goals.
What is open access
publishing?
Open access is based on the principle that research outputs should be freely and immediately available with reuse rights. When considering open access publishing, there are many dimensions that add to the complexity and can contribute to confusion regarding open access. Points to be aware of are outlined in this section.
Why choose to publish
open access?
Publications are a critical vehicle for the dissemination of all types of research data, including clinical trial data. Research outputs published on open access terms allow others to access and build upon the work.
Do open access publishing requirements and availability of open access options vary by funding source?
Depending on funding source, some publishers and journals vary open access options available to authors. Additionally some funders require authors to publish research funded by their organization on open access terms.
What are the economic aspects of open access?
Publishers face considerable costs in operating and publishing journals and, therefore, high-quality publishing requires significant financial resources. Each publishing model has different ways of generating revenue to cover operating expenses, and will be discussed here.
Are open access journals more likely to be “predatory journals”?
Predatory publishing, a corruption of the legitimate open access publishing model, involves charging publication fees to authors without providing the editorial, peer review, and publishing services associated with legitimate journals.
Predatory publishing has significantly increased in recent years and is a threat to legitimate publishing. Authors must become aware of how to identify and avoid these predatory practices.
Where can authors of industry-funded research publish their research via open access?
Authors and publications professionals can encounter challenges when searching for open access publishing options at journals. Open access options can vary by funding source as well as by journal, and this information is not readily available on journal websites. Thus, it can be challenging to obtain current information without contacting the journal. To address this gap, MPIP created the Open Access Journal Tool for Industry (OA-JTI), a free and unique resource to help authors and publications professionals find open access publishing options by journal and therapeutic area for industry-sponsored research.
Within the tool, options are available to filter by therapeutic area, copyright policy, publisher, title, open access article policy, and open access journal publishing model.
Explore the OA-JTI: Open Access Journal Tool for Industry