New report reveals growing confidence in open access quality - BioMed Central blog

"Open access (OA) is no longer the ‘new kid on the block’ in publishing terms. Indeed, BioMed Central is marking its 15th anniversary this year. However, with concerns over so-called ‘predatory publishers’ often covered in the scientific press, there are still misconceptions to be overcome about the quality of open access research. Encouragingly, results of a new survey released last week by NPG and Palgrave Macmillan have shown that these misconceptions are diminishing, and confidence in open access publishing is growing. In 2014, 40% of scientists who had not published open access in the last three years said 'I am concerned about perceptions of the quality of OA publications'. But this year, only 27% said they were concerned. In a press release announcing the survey results, Dan Penny, Head of Insights at Nature Publishing Group and Palgrave Macmillan said: 'Perceptions are likely to change over time as more open access publications establish strong reputations, funders mandate open access, and authors publish their best research in OA journals. Last year in particular saw a significant improvement in attitudes.' The open access market has changed significantly since BioMed Central became the first commercial OA publisher ..."