Letter: Open access journals are viable alternatives | Montreal Gazette

"In his article 'Cholesterol, avocados and wishful thinking,' Christopher Labos does a good job of explaining in layman’s terms the difference between statistical significance and clinical significance, noting that even good quality results may not be meaningful. However, Labos is mistaken when he says that the fact that a research paper was published in an open access journal means that the authors have paid to have it published. This is a common misconception. In fact not all open access journals require author fees to cover the costs of publishing; many are subsidized by universities, professional societies, or government agencies. And some journals that charge subscription fees also require authors to pay a fee ..."