An OA article can present high quality research just as easily as a subscription article can exhibit low-quality research. Open Access is more about accessibility than it is about quality.

Last week we told you about Predatory Publishers. This week we're exploring Open Access Publishers and Open Access Journals.

If you use Google to do research, chances are you've found scholarly articles from high-caliber publishers like Elsevier or Taylor & Francis.

Ever notice that some articles appear to be "free" with the click of a mouse, but others charge a subscription or have a hefty per-article cost? In some cases that's because you're accessing a subscription the VDOT library has paid for (so you don't have to).  But not always. 

How about the new journal you just discovered that calls itself an "Open Access" transportation journal?  Open Access?  What's that even mean?  

To help guide you through this new publishing model we created a new guide called "Understanding Open Access."  

Open access (OA) journals are scholarly journals that are available online to the readers "without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself" and they are a growing thing in the research world. Translation: OA articles are free to access as long as you have an Internet connection.  

But are they any good?  Answer: Yes!  And sometimes no...

Turns out that sometimes research articles that are expensive to buy are not super high quality, just as some very high quality articles from journals with high annual subscription fees are now being made available to anyone for free under a new publishing/access model called "Open Access."  

Believe it or not, some types of research now require that articles funded in certain ways be published in an OA format to ensure the public has ongoing access. 

Learn more though our guide Understanding Open Access and as always, let us know how we can help you. At the VDOT Research Library, our job is to help you do your job. 

Ken Winter
Ken.Winter@VDOT.Virginia.gov
434-962-8979

P.S. BTW, if you are ever prompted to pay a fee for an article you need at work (Open Access or not) you can dodge the fee by sending a request to the library's document delivery service.  We'll get you what you need at no cost to you!