Open Access Publishing: Challenges, Costs, and Ethical Models for the Future

Open access (OA) publishing is a complex and evolving landscape. Increasingly, funder policies require researchers to publish OA, yet the fees associated with OA publishing pose barriers, particularly to those from under-resourced disciplines and under-funded institutions. For researchers, this complexity is further compounded by the pressure to publish to advance their academic careers. How can researchers compete in this landscape? This presentation will provide a general overview of open access publishing and discuss the upcoming revision to the Tri-Agency OA policy. The speaker will also present findings from recent studies on article processing charges (APCs) to spark a conversation around ethical publishing models and explore how our community can retain control of its research. This public lecture was delivered in-person to the University of Saskatchewan research community.