Open Access Publishing: Principles, Models, and Benefits

Abstract

Open access removes price and permission barriers to research, allowing anyone to read, reuse, and build upon scholarship. This article reviews the foundational declarations that defined the movement and distinguishes the main routes to open access: gold, green, and diamond. We weigh the evidence on readership, citation advantage, and global equity, and consider the economics of article processing charges versus community-funded models. We argue that fee-free, diamond open access—supported by efficient open-source infrastructure such as OJS—is an increasingly practical route for scholarly societies, libraries, and institutions that wish to publish high-quality, peer-reviewed work without charging either authors or readers.