OA vs. Paywall: Who pays the price?

Someone must pay…

I’ve gone back and forth over the years in my opinion on publishing in subscription-based versus open access (OA) journals. At first, OA was not an option for me—the first time I saw an APC (article publishing charge) of $4,230 USD, I nearly fell off my chair. This was beyond my ability as a poor, loan-indebted graduate student to comprehend. Shaking off what seemed like an absurd figure, I happily submitted my manuscript to a subscription-based journal and treated myself to an upgraded coffee costing $2 more than my normal cuppa.

Over the years, OA has gained traction. More OA journals are coming online every day—and it has become common for subscription journals to offer OA options, typically under something called hybrid Gold OA. I have had opportunities to tap academic funding sources to publish in OA journals—feeling akin to a Robin Hood persona…but without the stealing part.

An open access (OA) journal is a scholarly publication that makes its articles available online for free and without restrictions. This means that anyone can read, download, and use the research without paying a subscription. 

OA means more exposure for your work because…researchers in developing countries can download and read your paper for free…which can mean higher citation rates…and the public can access your work for free…which means that your research can influence policy and practitioners can apply your findings. 

Want more citations…?

In fact, Clark et al (2024) “…found that publishing open access in hybrid journals that offer the option confers an average citation advantage to authors of 17.8 citations compared to closed access articles in similar journals… However, by examining articles where the authors paid an article processing charge, [they] found that cost itself was not predictive of citation rates.” Read the full article for free here*. 

Ok, first of all, for those of us in certain social science fields, a baseline citation of 17.8 is itself an amazing feat. Absolute values aside, the point the authors make deserves highlighting: cost is not predictive of citation rates. Meaning: don’t think that just because you can pay $$$ to publish your paper it will translate to more citations. A well-written paper that makes a meaningful contribution and is easy to find by relevant readers will be cited—whether it’s behind a paywall or free to access, period.

A subscription-based journal charges individuals and/or institutions subscription fees; only those who have purchased a subscription to the journal or have purchased an individual article will have access to the paper.

Paywalls are the pits

Paywalls are not an issue if you are affiliated with an institution that provides you free access to journals through an online library portal. However, if you have to pay yourself, it can add up quickly…I just checked on of my recent publications and it’s $24.96 to download. Not terrible…if you only have a few papers that you want to access.  However, that can add up quickly if your literature search returns 10, 15, or 30+ papers that seem relevant. So maybe you consider getting a subscription to a few of the most relevant journals in your field so you have unlimited access. Don’t fall off your chair when I tell you that a subscription to the journal that my paper is in charges $3,662 USD for a 1-year subscription…a journal with a modest 6.0 impact factor.

OA Journals provide free access for everyone, which in an increasingly inequitable world, seems like the obvious choice if you have the funds.

Here is an interesting blog post by NewsRx on how to choose an open access journal. (Note: I do not endorse this group nor do I receive any benefit if you click the link).

Who can afford OA fees?

Let’s play devils’ advocate for a moment. If OA journals are prohibitively expensive to publish in, then who is not getting published?

The conundrum is that subscription journals provide free access to publish but are only accessible to the privileged who can pay. Whereas only the privileged can afford to publish in OA journals but provide free access to all. It’s easy to imagine how the pool of papers becomes biased along the two publication pathways.

Ok, let’s regroup: The fees for AO publishing can be prohibitive without grant or other funding so which is right for you? If you want free access and have the funds, OA seems like the choice for you. However, if you don’t have the funds, subscription is probably your only option. If, finally, you are most concerned about citations…my answer is to write a strong paper and pick the journal that publishes on your topic that has the best reputation.

Green OA: the Goldilocks option 

Now we come to the secret pathway: Green OA. This underutilized alternative is where authors self-archive their work by uploading preprints to online portals such as Academia.edu or ResearchGate or by depositing post-prints in institutional repositories or other archives. But wait a minute—you cannot simply upload a PDF of your newly published pay-for paper. You must educate yourself on the legal rules: check the embargo period for your accepted manuscripts. These typically range from six months to two years for self-archiving in an institutional repository, which allows authors to leverage the OA citation advantage for older articles at no cost to themselves.

Please listen when I state: Green OA is typically subject to journal permissions, formatting restrictions, and embargo periods—and ignorance is not a legal defense. However, there is no cost to the author under this model, which makes Green OA a particularly appealing alternative to costly APCs.

If you want to go the Green OA path, remember to save your final accepted manuscript version for later deposit in institutional repositories or online portal BECAUSE while many journals permit Green OA, they still prohibit deposit of the publisher’s PDF with all journal formatting and typesetting applied. 

Here are my takeaways…

• If you are at the grant proposal writing stage, be sure to include a budget item to cover OA fees.
• Talk to the head of your department or financial administrator about funding availability for OA fees. The end of the fiscal year is a great time to inquire about surplus in the budget—the carrot: use of extra funds can increase department publication outputs; the stick: budget surplus can adversely impact the next year’s budget if funders are sensitive to ‘waste’.
• Be cognizant of your timing: don’t let your funds expire while you extend your writing deadline. At the same time, select an OA journal with a short decision timeline.
• An alternative option (there are surely others, but this is the one I’m most familiar with): MDPI credits peer reviewers a token amount that can be used to offset OA fees for any MDPI journal, but they come with strict expiration dates so it’s hard to rack up a substantial discount—I once saw a $400 USD credit expire on my account while I was still editing my manuscript…
• If applicable to you, check if the OA journal offers a discount or waiver for those in developing countries or other specified situations…you might need to contact the editor directly.
• If you are a grad student or post-doc: Check with your advisor regarding any additional funds…if yes, can you reasonably add them as a co-author if not already?
• Finally, careful of predatory journals…

Check the predatory journal list. 

Directory of OA Journals.

A resource on OA in Asia.

Send your best work. Period.

I personally have published several papers in MDPI’s OA journals and review their manuscripts regularly. It can be tempting to submit to such OA journals because they have a very quick turnaround. You can make the case that it is beneficial for getting your work out there as well as meeting looming grant funding deadlines; however, be aware of the quality of your work submitted because the reviewers might not have the time to give detailed feedback—the deadline is typically only 10-15 days to review—and you will likewise not be allotted adequate time for major revisions. My advice: send your best work. Once it’s published, it is irrevocable.

This website offers a checklist on what you need to know when assessing whether a publisher is suitable for your research. (Note: I do not endorse this group nor do I receive any benefit if you click the link).

One final thought: Your abstract

Papers that sit silently behind a paywall are not entirely inaccessible to those without a subscription…researchers can and probably will cite you even if they only have access to your abstract. And that is why your abstract is so important and should be a comprehensive (albeit brief) summary of your research paper with the most important findings and conclusions explicitly stated. Want to write a stronger abstract? Watch my free video The Abstract: Your conceptual roadmap here. 

Free library access is available here.

* Footnote: Here is the citation and link to a rigorous study on OA vs Paywall:

Clark AD, Myers TC, Steury TD, Krzton A, Yanes J, Barber A, Barry J, Barua S, Eaton K, Gosavi D, Nance R, Pervaiz Z, Ugochukwu C, Hartman P, Stevison LS. Does it pay to pay? A comparison of the benefits of open-access publishing across various sub-fields in biology. PeerJ. 2024 Feb 27;12:e16824. doi: 10.7717/peerj.16824. PMID: 38436005; PMCID: PMC10906259.