Persistent Myths About Open Access Scientific Publishing

Academic publishers do not pay peer reviewers, and lack of funds is no bar to publication in an open access journal

A spate of recent articles in the Guardian have drawn attention to lots of reasons why open access to research publications is reasonable, beneficial and even inevitable. But two recent letters columns in the Guardian, headlined "Information that we want to be free" and "Better models for open access", have perpetuated some long-running misconceptions about open access that need to be addressed.

It's not surprising that for-profit, barrier-based publishers are fighting to stem the tide, by misinformation if necessary, but researchers and the general public need not be taken in...