Recommendations for scholarly publishers and journal editors to mitigate barriers to open access publishing for researchers with weak institutional ties

Abstract

As Open Access (OA) becomes more common, meaning that anyone can read and reuse scholarly papers, more attention is being given to the issue of fair opportunities for researchers to publish OA. For researchers at well-resourced universities and research institutions, publishing OA is becoming increasingly easier due to read and-publish agreements with major publishers, dedicated funds to cover article processing charges (APCs), and multi-layered support from library and scholarly communication specialists. However, novel and rigorous research of publishable quality can nowadays be conducted outside traditional academic settings. For many researchers who are temporarily or by choice outside academia but still conduct research and wish to publish it OA, the costs and workflow burden of OA publishing can be prohibitive and exclusionary. Removing these barriers is key not only for individual careers but also for scientific progress as a whole.