Introduction
Open access to research is important because it allows the public to see the research that is done on their behalf, so they can better understand what’s happening in their world. But what happens when you can’t afford to publish to an open access journal?
Scientists in the Global South are discovering things, but they can’t afford to publish their discoveries.
The problem is that the journals they want to publish in are expensive and out of reach for many researchers.
In this post, we’ll talk about how this issue affects scientists in the Global South and how we’re working to solve it.
Scientists Have Taken To Social Media To Share Their Frustrations
Scientists have been sharing their frustrations about not being able to afford to publish in research journals on social media.
This is a concern because the only way for researchers to get their work out there is by publishing in these journals, and many of them don’t have the funds to do it.
The good news is that there are open access journals that help solve this problem. But scientists in the global south still can’t afford to publish in open access journals. Open access to research means that anyone can read it and use it for their own purposes. But the barrier is in publishing.
An Unseen Barrier to Scientific Progress
Every day, scientists around the world do groundbreaking research with public funds as they open access to their research. They write up their findings, and submit them to academic journals, hoping to get those papers published, so they can share their work with the world.
If they’re lucky enough to have their papers accepted by a journal, they then have to pay thousands of dollars in “article processing fees” just to publish their own work. In some cases, that’s more than an entire year of grant money — money that was originally intended for research.
Researchers from the Global South often can’t publish their work in Open Access Journals because they can’t pay fees of as much as $5,000 per paper.
But if researchers don’t publish their findings and make them available to the public. Not only does it prevent them from contributing further to science and medicine, but it also prevents others from building on that research or using it for new discoveries.
In other words: it’s a lose-lose situation.
Open Access to Research Science Journals
Access to scientific research is a major issue in the global south, where many scientists can’t afford the fees associated with publishing in mainstream research journals. Open access to research means that anyone can read, download, and share it.
This is especially true for researchers working in low-income or developing countries who don’t have access to funds from their institutions or governments.
Many of these scientists find themselves locked out of publication because they can’t afford the subscription fees associated with accessing the research that informs their work—and ultimately impacts their communities.
While some journals are making efforts to provide open access options for these scientists, there’s still a long way to go before we reach a point where all scientists have equal access to information and resources.
Researchers Have to Pay to Publish
This may come as something of a surprise to you. After all, who wouldn’t want to publish research that could have positive ramifications internationally?
In theory, good research should be evaluated based on its merits alone: how important the topic is and how well-thought-out and executed the research was. The thing is, when researchers submit their work to journals, sometimes they’re deterred from doing so because of publication fees — fees necessary to cover article processing costs like editing services and journal hosting or archiving costs.
Publication fees fall under what’s known as “double-dipping” in scholarly publishing — the practice of charging libraries and readers twice for access to academic content because institutions subscribe to journals, while authors pay publication fees when they submit their articles.
Online Free Journals
Open access online journals are one solution to the problem of scientists not being able to afford to publish fees. The idea of free journals is not new, but it has been gaining popularity in recent years.
Many people don’t see free journals as having the same prestige as larger, more well-established journals. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t a viable option for scientists who want to publish their work but can’t afford the fees.
Scientists Forced to Pay for Research Out of Pocket
But even if they’re able to get a grant, it’s often not enough to cover the cost of their research. In many countries, scientists are responsible for paying their own research expenses. For example, if you’re doing an experiment on flies and need a few hundred thousand live flies for your work, you’d have to purchase those insects yourself.
So when these researchers are forced to choose between paying for research or publishing their findings, they end up having to decide between continuing with their work or sharing what they’ve learned with other researchers around the world. It just doesn’t make sense — especially since these scientists are doing valuable work that can benefit all of us.
Many researchers would rather sacrifice publishing their results than sacrifice doing good science.
Some researchers even decide not to publish because they don’t want to contribute any more money to the academic publishing industry, which has become too expensive and inaccessible for many people who require these published research findings the most.
You Can’t Get Published, So You Can’t Get Funding
It’s frustratingly circular: the more you publish, the more chances you have of getting funding. But to prove your value by publishing, you require money. And to get that money, you need to publish.
So scientists find themselves in a Catch-22.
If you can’t afford to publish your work, there’s a chance it won’t make it into the public sphere at all — because if no one knows about it, no one can fund it.
So even though this research could help benefit people around the world, they may never get to see its results because of issues with cost and accessibility. Issues that could be solved by having access to more funding in the first place.
Learning about this is the first step to being part of the solution. At first, it seems like there are more than enough funding sources for researchers in the Global South. Grants, fellowships, and awards are all available to deserving scientists working in these regions.
If a researcher hasn’t published their work, they’re unlikely to get one of those grant dollars to help them conduct their research.
If you’re a researcher in this situation, your options are limited: you can go into debt by paying for publishing fees yourself or struggle along in obscurity with no funding or recognition for your work.
When we leave scientists behind, we miss out on the revolutionary discoveries they could have made. Open access to research is essential for a modern academic environment.
Open Access Academic Journals Articles
Open access academic journals are a great way to help scientists get the information they need and make it better, faster.
The problem is, there are lots of barriers to getting the information that you require.
High publishing fees can make it difficult for scientists to get their research out there, and many academic journals don’t accept submissions from new authors.
Open access academic journals are changing this. They’re working hard to make sure that everyone has access to the research that’s being done across the world, so that we can all benefit from what’s being discovered every day.
Conclusion
Open access to research is one of the most important things we can do for humanity.
So, what does the future hold for scientists in the Global South?
It’s a question that’s hard to answer. But one thing we do know is that scientists in the Global South are discovering things—things they can’t afford to publish, or even share with their colleagues. And that’s an issue.
Because when it comes down to it, there are only so many ways you can prove something exists before someone else starts believing in it too. Now, let’s fix the publishing fees associated with open access journals.