Reducing open access publication costs forbiomedical researchers in the U.S.A.

Open Access (OA) publishing is a critical route for biomedical researchers to broadly disseminate their research results and comply with policies from funding agencies. A popular business model for OA publishing requires scientists to pay an article processing charge (APC). In the last two decades, APCs have risen well beyond inflation, posing a burden to scientists and funding agencies that often pay APCs on behalf of scientists. There are no policies in place that address the rising costs of APCs. Here, we examined the history of OA in biomedical research and analyzed the benefits and limitations of different OA policies and their effects on APCs.