SSPH+ | Conspiracies in Academia? Stand Up Against Defamations of Open Access Journals!

"The Open Access publishing model (OA) makes research findings freely and publicly accessible to everybody, including all taxpayers who contribute to publicly funded research. It fundamentally contrasts with the traditional subscription-based model, where science is locked behind paywalls. In the OA model, related costs are instead covered by Article Processing Charges (APC) paid by the authors (Gold OA); in relatively rare cases, some funders cover the full costs of a journal (Diamond OA) to make it free for readers and authors alike. The OA vision is enthusiastically endorsed and often required by prime funders, including the European Union [1]. In this Commentary, we share some negative experiences highlighting that OA remains subject to aggressive attacks and defamations, often without rationale or evidence."