Open access (127) Benefits of OA journals (3)

20 November, 2025

Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/open-access-105-should-funders-stop-pay...

In response to my statement 'OA journals continue to have a vital role to play' Thomas Krichel writes:

'They surely vitally enrich publishers. But since publishers in general don't pay reviewer---who do the actual evidence work---journals do very little to further evidence.'

Yes, a minority of OA journals enrich the publisher by charging inflated APCs. And publishers in general don't pay for peer review. But I don't agree that journal publishers 'do very little to further evidence'.

Without the input of journals, research communication would be a mess. The journal publishing process is one of the six components of the global evidence ecosystem. https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa

Best wishes, Neil

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org

Author: 
Neil Pakenham-Walsh