6 Myths About Open Access Journals

One of the most important and urgent problems in the development of modern world science is the problem of open access. Today, there is a situation where the results of interesting and significant research are not available to a wide audience, which served as a prerequisite for the creation of Open Access journals, the purpose of which is to provide the reader with the full text of a scientific article for free. Unfortunately, many myths have developed around such journals, the maintenance and development of which in the popular media often “scars away” potential authors. Today we will talk about the most popular myths.

How are Open Access journals different from traditional academic journals?

The business of the latter is based on the sale of published scientific information, which causes indignation of state and academic structures that finance research. The requirement of these structures to publish the results of research in the open access is quite right, since publishers receive scientific articles for free, and then sell for fabulous money journals with research results to which they have nothing to do. Therefore, the policy of open access is gaining more and more scope both in the scientific community and in society as a whole.

What is the difference for the author between publishing an article in traditional journals and open access journals?

The main difference is that in most traditional journals the author does not pay for the publication of an article, while most open access journals are initially focused on paying authors for their publications. Otherwise, publishing in a traditional journal and an Open Access journal is almost the same.

Unfortunately, quite a lot of myths have developed around the latter, the maintenance and development of which in popular media often “scares away” potential authors. Today we will talk about the most popular myths.

6 Popular Myths About Open Access Journals

Myth #1. All Open Access journals are junk

Since the income of open access journals is directly dependent on the number of published articles, it is logical to assume that sooner or later the publisher will have a desire to publish as many articles as possible. And this can lead to a decrease in the quality of published materials and the transformation of the journal into “garbage”. However, the same fate may befall a traditional magazine, which, in pursuit of a larger audience, may begin to publish articles “outside of its specialty.”

It is worth noting that among the Open Access journals there are many reputable high-ranking publications, so the statement that all open access journals are of low quality is incorrect.

Myth #2. Open access journals are not peer-reviewed

All scientific journals, including Open Access, must be subject to mandatory peer review by recognized experts in this field of scientific knowledge. To increase objectivity in assessing the scientific significance of articles published in the journal, “double-blind peer review” is often used (we discussed this method of review in our last article). Only in this case it is possible to speak about the guaranteed level of quality of publications. For example, such major scientific publishers as Springer, Nature, Elsevier publish Open Access journals with a strict anonymous peer review process.

In addition, in the case of open access journals, informal peer review often takes place in the form of open discussion of published articles by a wide audience of a wide variety of interested readers. Therefore, it is wrong to say that open access journals are not peer-reviewed.

Myth #3. Open Access journals are not indexed in VAK, Scopus or WoS

The number of Open Access journals in Scopus is over 3800 journals, and in the WoS database – over 2100. In accordance with the Decree of the Ministry of Education and Science, the presence of journals in Scopus and WoS is sufficient reason to include them in the List of journals of the Higher Attestation Commission. Therefore, this myth is also untenable: open access journals are indexed in authoritative databases and are included in the VAK List. It is worth noting that the inclusion of a journal in international databases or in the VAK List is based on many factors, but the type of journal – Open Access or traditional – does not affect this process.

Myth #4. Open access journals have a low impact factor

This is not true because Open Access journals, due to their openness and accessibility, have a fairly high level of citation, often not inferior to authoritative scientific journals of the traditional format.

You can verify this by entering the DOAJ open catalog, where, among the Open Access journals, there are, for example, such journals as PLoS Biology (IF: 8, 668), BioMed Central (IF: 7.43) and others.

Myth #5. Open Access journals publish everything

If a journal publishes everything, then this is one of the clear signs of its “garbage”, when the pursuit of profit comes at the expense of the quality of published materials.

Open Access does not mean that any article is allowed to be published in them. An article submitted for publication must not only meet all the formal requirements of a scientific journal, but also contain new and original results of the author’s scientific research. The high level of requirements for articles and qualified peer review determine their professional quality, and with it the scientific significance and authority of the journal.

Myth #6. Authors are not protected by copyright

In accordance with the Legislation, copyright, extending to all types of intellectual property, does not depend on the form of their publication. As for open access, here the authors also have an additional advantage over publication in traditional journals: the author does not transfer his rights to use the article to the journal and retains the ability to dispose of it. So fears for their copyrights for publication in the Open Access journal are absolutely groundless.

In conclusion, you should not trust everything that is said about open access journals and be afraid of publishing in them. When choosing a journal, the author should pay attention to facts, not speculation, and be careful in choosing a journal for publication, regardless of its format. It should always be remembered that publication in open access journals can become a “push” in the development of the author as a scientist, draw the attention of the scientific community to the results of the research, because the main goal of such journals is to convey the results of scientific research to the widest possible readership. Therefore, publishing an article in a journal Open Access is not only possible, but necessary!

Good luck publishing!

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