How can we make open access more equitable?
14 October 2024
By Library Connect
This Open Access Week, we explore a novel Elsevier pilot that aims to reduce financial hurdles for authors in low- and middle-income countries
In January this year, we launched the Geographical Pricing for Open Access (GPOA) pilot. In this publishing industry first, 143 Elsevier fully open access journals are adjusting their article publishing charge (APC) based on the corresponding author’s geographic location. Revised prices range from a full waiver to payments of 20-90 percent of the usual APC.
Stuart Whayman, Managing Director, Researchers and Librarians at Elsevier, explains: “The geographical pricing for OA pilot aims to expand upon the existing waivers and discounts we offer authors through the Research4Life program, further reducing the regional economic disparities that act as a major barrier to achieving a more inclusive world of research,” adding “The pilot is enabling us to test and learn from a more globally equitable model that reflects local economic circumstances.”
Journals participating in the geographical pricing for OA pilot span the health and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields and welcome a range of submission types from full research papers to case reports and micro articles. To date, uptake of the pilot has proved promising – during the first six months, the 143 titles received 21,500 submissions from corresponding authors based in nearly 100 of the 120+ eligible countries.
Benefits of the pilot
Authors in countries eligible for the pilot regularly report difficulties in sourcing funding for open access APCs. Yet, these are researchers with valuable insights to share on many of the major challenges that society faces today, from extreme weather to food insecurity. Ensuring their research is widely accessible offers researchers in their region the opportunity to build on their findings. It also benefits the growing number of countries that now face similar challenges.
Importantly, although we regularly waive or discount APCs on a case-by-case basis, this pilot (like the Research4Life initiative), applies the reductions automatically. This can be helpful for authors who don’t feel comfortable submitting a discount request.
The fact that these articles are open access may also help the researchers expand the reach of their work, opening the door to new international collaborations and funding opportunities. And on a macro scale, it is increasing the diversity of perspectives in research; something a rising number of studies have shown greatly benefits both science and society.
For Kabir Bindawa Abdullahi, one of the corresponding authors who has published open access under the pilot, it was the opportunity to share his research on a global stage that proved a major draw. He also believes that geographical pricing for OA pilot is playing an important role in giving researchers access to journals they can trust. “It is supporting authors with limited or no funding to publish in reputable journals…. Authors with limited funding often fall victim to predatory journals, which entice them with impressive emails and low or no publication charges,” he explains.
In fact, without the financial support he received via the pilot, Kabir says he would likely have found himself in a similar position. “I would still have tried to publish open access, but I would have had to search for a journal with very low article processing charges.”
Kabir Bindawa Abdullahi
As a researcher affiliated with Umaru Musa Yar’adua University in Nigeria, Kabir paid 20 percent of the usual APC for the publication of his paper "Statistical mirroring: A robust method for statistical dispersion estimation" opens in new tab/window in participating journal MethodsX. He says that thanks to the pilot he now feels encouraged to submit more articles. “It’s a great initiative that enables everyone to share knowledge equally, regardless of socioeconomic differences…. Having strong funding does not necessarily reflect the quality or novelty of your scientific work.”
Kabir’s experiences resonate with those of Dr Lucy Kaomba, General Surgeon and Clinical Lecturer at Malawi's Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. She and her co-authors were eligible for a full APC waiver when they published their article “Clinicopathological features and management of obstructive jaundice at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Malawi. A retrospective cohort analysis” opens in new tab/window in geographical pricing for OA pilot journal Surgery Open Science.
For Lucy, publishing open access is important to “give my paper as much visibility as possible so that I also increase the potential for collaboration with others.” However, without the pilot, she would have had to request financial support from her institution; something she says isn’t always guaranteed.
How does the geographical pricing for OA pilot work?
When a manuscript is submitted to one of the participating journals, we automatically apply any eligible discount(s) based on the corresponding author country.
If the corresponding author is in a country classified as low income by the World Bank, the APC for publishing open access in the journal is waived.
If they are in a country classified as lower-middle income, the author pays just 20 percent of the usual APC price.
If they are in a country classified as upper-middle income, and where research & development (R&D) intensity1 is below two percent, they are assigned to one of three different groups based on GNI (gross national income) per capita. These groups pay 45-90 percent of the usual APC price.
For a detailed explanation of the criteria and a list of eligible countries visit Elsevier.com GPOA page.
Supporting open access in your institution
As a librarian, there are a number of ways you can help your researchers to learn more about open access or identify cost-effective open access options. For example, if you are new to the topic, the Library Connect article “Open access essentials for librarians” offers easy-to-follow explanations of all the key terms, along with links to helpful resources. We have also developed an online guide to open access, which includes videos and a useful FAQ.
Other actions you can take include:
Providing training for researchers; potentially in partnership with your institution’s research office.
Supporting researchers to find suitable journals that align with relevant institutional or funder open access policies.
Exploring options to increase open access options at your institution; for example, via read and publish agreements with publishers.
We also encourage you to familiarize yourself with the terms of the geographical pricing for OA pilot. Even if it doesn’t apply to your institution, there may be eligible institutions in your network who have yet to hear about it.
Advancing openness and inclusion in research
Over many years, teams across Elsevier have been working to provide institutions and their researchers with flexible, inclusive and accessible open access publishing options, wherever they are located.
This is part of our wider focus on open science, which includes a range of free access initiatives that aim to ensure everyone can access the important information they need, whether they are researchers, students, medical professionals or patients.
We are proud of Elsevier’s 20-year relationship opens in new tab/window with Research4Life, which provides researchers in lower- and middle-income countries with free or low-cost online access to academic and professional content. Elsevier is a founding member of the organization, and has contributed more than 100,000 peer-reviewed resources. We also automatically apply APC waivers or discounts to articles published in any of our 800 gold open access journals, if all authors are based in one of the 125+ opens in new tab/window countries and territories eligible for the Research4Life program. .
The GPOA pilot builds on this rich history, and will continue to run and evolve as we learn more about its potential to improve equity in open access publishing.
