Benefits of Open Access for Authors | Open Science

" ... How can authors benefit from publishing in an Open Access model? Accessibility and openness. These are some of the major advantages of Open Access. In this model the final receiver of a book or an article does not incur any costs, and the costs related to the publishing process are paid primarily from funds set up by universities, private institutions or governments. In contrast to the traditional model where access to content can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars and when even university libraries find it increasingly difficult to cover the ever-mounting fees, access to publications in OA is free. What does it mean for the authors? First of all, their work can reach a much larger audience and be more widely read and discussed; secondly – the final product is free, and thanks to digital distribution and online promotion, dissemination of scientific knowledge is simplified – both within the scientific community, but also in the wider world ... Impact and citation ... These benefits are closely related to accessibility and openness. Availability and distribution via the Internet, as well as the possibility of adding links to the content, gives authors a chance to increase the number of times their paper is cited. The impact of Open Access on citation rate has been examined for many years and thorough analysis is beginning to confirm that this model increases citation. One example is the report – Citation Advantage of Open Access Articles: 'In the crude analysis, the mean number of citations as well as the proportion of articles cited at least once was significantly higher in the OA group in both the April 2005 and the October 2005 analyses, with the relative 'risk' for non-OA articles of not being cited increasing over time.'"