There are a lot of misconceptions about Open Access. Here, we explore why Open Access is important by linking it to academic publishing more broadly and global issues like climate change and health research. We aim to clarify the benefits of Open Access and why governments around the world are mandating it.

What is Open Access?

Open Access (OA) is a publishing model for scholarly research that makes information immediately available to readers at no cost. The research is often free to reuse for scholarly purposes.

In short, some of the goals of OA are:

• Availability and reusability of scientific research for the public;
• Accessibility and transparency of scientific communication;
• Facilitating scientific collaboration;
• Transparency for the methodology, observation, and collection of data.

By eliminating the barriers to accessing and producing research, OA is helping to ensure that scientific research can reach its potential.

Why is Open Access important?

How does Open Access intersect and help us address other key issues? Let’s take a look.

Artificial intelligence

The potential that AI offers is shaking up entire industries, including Open Access science. Like any new technology, AI presents both a threat and opportunity. It requires reflection, adjustment, and adaptation.

If implemented carefully, AI could help us respond to some of the issues that OA scientific publishing faces, including the increasing amounts of data being produced, language barriers, and imbalances in outputs between countries. It could also help to promote openness in datasets and content aggregators.

AI is changing Open Access; it’s changing everything. Ultimately, though, it’s a tool, so how it’s used determines its value. In our article, AI is Changing Open Access Science we explore this topic further, looking deeper at the challenges OA publishing is facing, how AI can help, and what we need to watch out for as it’s being increasingly implemented.

Artificial intelligence and open science principles

We attended the UNESCO event ‘Navigating the Intersection of Open Science and AI’. The event focused on ‘exploring opportunities and challenges in the era of artificial intelligence’.

Applying open science principles to the development of artificial intelligence tools is vital. This is because it would help bring together diverse perspectives from scientific disciplines and AI developers so they can actively address the concerns and limitations of the currently used AI models.

Interdisciplinarity is necessary for improving AI tools and ensuring they align with scientific principles. However, we need openness to enable such collaboration and a system of incentives to encourage researchers to perform the work. As such, the speakers advocate for a top-down approach, setting up incentives and requirements that will help researchers be involved in codesigning AI.

In our article Applying Open Science Principles to Artificial Intelligence, we discuss how open science principles can be applied to artificial intelligence, so that each supports the other. We’ll also expand on insights from the discussions at the event.

Benefits of preprints and need for incentives

MDPI attended the Plan S and Beyond seminar hosted by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP). Discussion focused on the Plan S Towards Scholarly Publishing proposal. Attendees concluded that Open Access is here to stay, but how can we continue to evolve it?

Some argued that preprints could be the answer. John Inglis, Co-Founder of bioRxiv and medRxiv, described the aim of preprints as

Uncoupling the distribution of research from evaluation by rapidly disseminating research manuscripts before peer review.

The benefits of preprints include

• Enhanced accessibility and transparency.
• Increased visibility.
• Early access and feedback.
• Accelerating discourse.

Robert Kiley, Head of Strategy at cOAlition S, presented findings from a research consultation. The study found that 75% of respondents felt like they were “never” or “sometimes” rewarded for sharing preprints.

Kiley and Inglis agreed that scholars need incentives for responsible publishing, like preprints, to advance Open Access. This requires reforming research assessment, so scholars are rewarded for publishing preprints, and developing more preprint servers.

Learn more in our article Benefits of Preprints and Need for Incentives.

Citizen science

Open Access is a movement that seeks to make research accessible to anyone, anywhere. It aims to remove any barriers to research, like paywalls. Similarly, citizen science seeks to remove the barriers between scientists and ordinary people during the process of creating science.

Citizen science is scientific work performed by ordinary people without any special qualifications. It is recognised by the EU and USA as a key part of open science, which is a movement focusing on ensuring all parts of science are openly accessible to all.

However, some express concerns about the integrity and reliability of citizen science projects, especially around the collection of data.

In our article Citizen Science is Open Science That Can Tackle the SDGs, we explore citizen science, scientist’s concerns about it, and how MDPI researchers have led a citizen science project in Ethiopia that tackles 8/17 of the UN’s SDGs.

Clean energy research

We rely on energy to meet our basic needs. But most of the energy we use contributes to global warming. Because of this, there are calls to transition to renewable energy, which requires a range of efforts from diverse disciplines and institutions.

Researchers and institutions from countless disciplines must come together to help the transition. It requires engineers to develop the technologies, economists to weigh up the costs and benefits, and sociologists to determine how to encourage a behavioural shift.

Additionally, since this is a global issue, researchers need to come together internationally to support a global energy transition.

Open Access supports interdisciplinary and international researchers by ensuring there are no barriers to accessing the literature. This enables them to create more sophisticated approaches by pooling their skills and knowledge to generate fresh insights and creative solutions to multifaceted issues.

In our article Clean Energy Research Must Be Open, we explore clean energy research and highlight how Open Access is necessary to ensure that it can reach its full potential.

Climate change

Climate change is arguably the most pressing global issue. Science plays a big role in ensuring we make informed decisions and the necessary changes.

The climate affects all humans as it’s central to food production, transport, infrastructure, clothing, health, and more. However, the climate is a dynamic system, making it very complex to model. We need large amounts of collaborative research from various disciplines to tackle climate change.

This will require an unprecedented effort from scientists, which OA can help facilitate. OA is important in this matter because it will help enable interdisciplinary research, boost the visibility and speed of research, and help communicate important findings to the places that need it most.

In our article We Need Open Access to Tackle Climate Change in 2024, we explore the grim picture that climate change reports present. We show how science can mobilise, as it did in 2020, to address global issues, and also explore how the benefits of Open Access mentioned above can ensure we face climate change together.

Fighting misinformation

Fake news generally refers to misleading information that is presented as factual. It can be spread intentionally or unintentionally and sometimes has a motive, ranging from spreading uncertainty to money making.

With improved access to new technologies, the number of platforms for distributing misinformation will only increase. This makes it increasingly difficult to ascertain what is factual and what isn’t. Such a confusing environment enables misinformation to easily spread.

OA provides the ability to freely access research, stats, and data. This ensures the barriers between academia and wider society can be removed. Barriers to research can cause people to feel alienated and suspicious of the information they cannot access.

In our article How Open Access is Fighting Misinformation, we explore why fake news is so prevalent and what it looks like, highlighting MDPI papers tackling the matter.

Health Equity

Health research is essential for global health, but when locked behind paywalls, access difficulties emerge in low-to-middle-income countries, which make up 85% of the world’s population.

A health disparity refers to a health difference that is closely linked with economic, social, and environmental disadvantage. So, conversely, health equity refers to the commitment to reduce, and ultimately remove, disparities in health. This involves striving for the highest standards of health for everyone, especially for those who need it most.

Accessing knowledge is clearly a fundamental requirement for tackling health challenges globally. By removing barriers to research via OA, we can ensure that vital information and cutting-edge insights can be accessed and applied regardless of financial situations.

In our article, Achieving Health Equity with Open Access, we explore the topic in further detail. We highlight common health disparities, the value of health research, and the benefits of making it OA.

Interdisciplinary research

Interdisciplinary research is on the rise, primarily because it’s ideal for tackling global issues like climate change that transcend the boundaries of disciplines and require a concerted approach.

In short, interdisciplinary research analyses and harmonises links between disciplines into a coordinated whole. It is an interactive approach. A helpful example is the field of oceanography which covers all aspects of the ocean. It transcends disciplinary boundaries, involving scientists from fields ranging from biology to economics.

However, for interdisciplinary research to work, scholarly research needs to be available. OA boosts the capabilities of interdisciplinary research by ensuring there are no barriers to the research. It helps to ensure researchers do not face any barriers whilst researching, speeding up their work and broadening their access to cutting-edge findings.

In our article, Open Access and Interdisciplinary Research Support Each Other, we outline what interdisciplinary research is, why it’s growing in popularity, and its relationship with OA.

Why CC BY is the best license for Open Access

Creative Commons (CC) licenses clearly define the rights of both the author and the user accessing material. They grant “baseline rights” and revolve primarily around the CC BY license.

CC BY allows users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial use, as long as attribution is given to the creator. CC BY is the least restrictive license as it maximises reuse and dissemination, boosting access and impact. Other licenses include non-commercial (NC), share-alike (SA), and non-derivative (ND).

Non-commercial licensing arguably contradicts the mission of Open Access: to ensure research is accessible and reusable for anyone, anywhere. This is because there is ambiguity about what commercial refers to, restricting collaboration and reuse due to the risk of legal implications. Moreover, non-commercial licensing allows publishers to commercialise research without consent or revenue sharing.

MDPI publishes CC BY because it aligns with standard definitions of Open Access and ensures the maximum amount of access for everyone, everywhere.

Learn more about Why CC BY is the Best License for Open Access.

Women’s education

Every day, women and girls face barriers to education or career progression. This is caused by a range of factors, including social expectations, poverty, and poor infrastructure. Quality education for and participation in the education system of women is essential to achieving equality and fulfilling their human rights.

How can Open Access help remove barriers to women’s education?

• Provides a positive increase for women’s research output and visibility, with women having higher authorship positions.
• Makes research freely accessible online, allowing academics to stay up to date with research in their fields without incurring costs.
• Frees funding for allocating research budgets in lower-income countries for producing new research, applying findings, or in educating and training.
• Helps in pooling expertise from diverse cultural and national standpoints to tackle long-standing issues.

In our article How Open Access Supports Women in Education, we examine how Open Access supports women in education by removing barriers and ensuring vital research is accessible.

Open Access and MDPI

MDPI is the largest Open Access publisher in the world. Accordingly, we are committed to ensuring you stay up to date with the benefits of Open Access. We will be updating this post monthly with articles showing you why Open Access is important.