Open access is changing the way scientific research is being published. And many say for the better. When people discover they have a serious illness, they often want free and easy access to medical research. Open access allows this. But there’s so much more to it.

Open access allows researchers to build on other research. It allows taxpayers to see what type of research the government is funding. And it allows a larger audience for the researcher’s publication.

So who pays in the open access model? The researcher. Often this can be written into their research grant. In addition, five prominent universities, including UC Berkeley, recently signed a compact promoting open access publishing and a commitment to underwriting publication fees.

PLoS is just one 0pen access publisher. Happily, it seems to be a growing movement.

 

 Open Access and PLoS: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download