Open access and publishing

Open access (OA) is attractive and desirable as a means by which to achieve the goal of improving the efficacy and efficiency of communicating scientific research results. The arguments most heard in favour of open access are, unfortunately, often not very strong or persuasive for researchers in their role of author, even though it is on them, and their funders, that the success of open access ultimately depends.Yet there is an inevitability of open access eventually becoming the norm, merely due to the technological possibilities of the Internet. Both publishers and the academic community should recognize this and create publishing models that satisfy the need for universal access in an economically viable fashion.