Heading for the open road: costs and benefits of transitions in scholarly communications

Abstract

All the key players in scholarly communications – funders, universities, libraries, publishers, and researchers – have an interest in improving access to scholarly journals. But the different constituencies do not share a common view of how this might best be achieved. Much attention has focused on open access and the benefits it could bring if adopted globally. But little attention has been paid to the dynamics of transition towards substantial improvements in access.