How global are you? - Open Access in the Developing World

"Once upon a time, the letter was the fastest and widely accessible mode of communicating information for the majority of the world. And then the internet came and changed (and is still changing) communication for EVERYONE. The internet is certainly changing scientific publishing. In 1665, the first scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, was published and was available in print to the elite few. Since then many more scientific journals have come into existence and their content made available to a growing audience. And yet, this audience was a small percentage of the scientific community, made up of only those that could afford subscriptions to these journals. The internet made subscriptions a little more affordable, because online access removed the need for print and distribution. Still, there was a lot of people that these journals would never reach. Then came open access journals – making it free for anyone and everyone to access scientific literature. But what is the use of having a global platform right there waiting for you, if you do not make the best use of it? ..."