Cross-National Comparison of Open Access Models: A Cost/Benefit Analysis

Abstract

A large portion of research is financed with public funds, and now, with the arrival of digitalization, we are transitioning from the traditional model of scientific publication to Open Access. However, not all countries are dealing with this change in the same way. On one hand there are Platinum Open Access journals and on the other hand there is the APC (article processing charge) publication model, and both models can coexist in the same country. In terms of impact, we found that papers published in Open Access journals achieve a scientific impact that is above average; in contrast, the Non-Open Access papers remain below average. Within Open Access, Green and Hybrid modes stand out above in scientific impact, and Platinum and Gold below. In terms of cost, Platinum Open Access journals are free for the author. Depending on the percentage of publications that are routed to the different Open Access modalities, there are different country models, with different costs and different results.