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Ci a ion
Tang BL. Al e na i e explana ions o a publica ion pa adox wi h gold open
access. Eu Sci Ed. 2025;51:e160424.
h ps://doi.o g/10.3897/ese.2025.e160424
Recei ed: 28 May 2025
Accep ed: 10 Aug 2025
Published: 10 Oc 2025
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Al e na i e explana ions o a Al e na i e explana ions o a
publica ion pa adox wi h gold publica ion pa adox wi h gold
open accessopen access
Bo Luen Tang
Depa men o Biochemis y, Yong Loo Lin School o Medicine, Na ional Uni e si y
Heal h Sys em, Na ional Uni e si y o Singapo e, Singapo e.
[email p o ec ed]
o cid.o g/0000-0002-1925-636X
Tang
Al e na i e explana ions o a publica ion pa adox wi h gold open access
X
XX
doi.o g/10.3897/ese.2025.e160424
Decla a ion o In e es s
The au ho s ha e no con lic o
in e es o decla e.
Funding
The au ho s decla ed ha his
iewpoin has ecei ed no
inancial suppo .
Acknowledgemen s
The au ho is g a e ul o he
e iewe s and edi o s o hei
cons uc i e and insigh ul
commen s and c i icisms, which
imp o ed he manusc ip .
Tang / doi.o g/10.3897/ese.2025.e160424 Page 2 / 7
Eu opean Science Edi ing
/
ese
Keywo ds:
A icle p ocessing cha ge (APC), gold open access (OA), impac ac o , publica ions,
sel -ci a ion
Abs ac
A pa adox was obse ed wi h ega d o an inc ease in gold open access publica ions
despi e he inc ease in inancial cons ain s. While his was iewed posi i ely by some
as an indica ion o s a egic adap a ion and inancial sac i ice o publish in open
access jou nals wi h an impac ac o ins ead o con e ence p oceedings, he e could
be al e na i e explana ions o he pa adox. I p opose iews ha e lec mo e nega-
i e issues wi h ci a ions, pee e iew, and an a guably subop imal mu ually p opa-
ga ing publishing loop o gold open access publica ions.
Al e na i e explana ions o a publica ion pa adox wi h gold open access
Tang / doi.o g/10.3897/ese.2025.e160424 Page 3 / 7
A publica ion pa adox
Romania’s 2016 esea ch e o ms ha e
in oduced igo ous publica ion quo as
and c i e ia, wi h academics being equi ed
o publish a minimum numbe o a icles
in jou nals wi h an Impac Fac o o 1 o
highe , and a educed emphasis on con e -
ence p oceedings. These e o ms coincided
wi h a educ ion in esea ch unding, and
Ce na ’s ecen analysis indica ed a signi i-
can decline in o e all Romanian scien i ic
p oduc ion.1,2 As a esul o he e o ms,
he e was indeed a educ ion in publica ions
in con e ence p oceedings accompanied
by an inc eased numbe o publica ions in
online only, gold open access (OA) jou nals
(wi h an a icle p ocessing cha ge [APC]),
pa icula ly hose wi h a dis inc egional
p esence, bu he la e could no compen-
sa e o he o me .
A simila pa e n was ound in Uk aine,3
Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.4 Such a
gene al inc ease in gold OA- ype academic
pape s om eas e n and cen al Eu opean
coun ies5,6 and Asia4 would be pa adoxi-
cal in iew o he he y APCs and unding
cons ain s. Such a pa adox may well apply
o many o he coun ies in o he geog aphi-
cal egions, as academic publishing ia gold
OA has inc eased wo ldwide. While Ce na
iewed his end nega i ely as i esul s
in “a s agna ion in publica ions in mo e
p es igious jou nals,”1,2 he e a e commen s
on his esul s ha ha e a mo e posi i e
ake.2 The explana ion o he pa adox is
hus ha academics/scien is s/ esea che s
in he coun ies conce ned ha e s i ed o
mee he inancial bu den imposed by he
APCs, and despi e unding educ ions ha e
none heless ele a ed he s anda d o hei
publica ions by w i ing in jou nals wi h
highe impac ac o s ins ead o con e ence
p oceedings.3 This may well ha e occu ed
in some cases, and he esea ch e alua ion
e o ms ha e indeed s imula ed esea che s
o publish be e wo k. Howe e , I sugges
below ha he e a e al e na i e explana-
ions, o which he e a e wo ela ed aspec s,
one pe aining o ci a ion impac ac o s
and he o he he pe cei ed inancial bu -
den o APC.
Al e na i e explana ions o he
publica ion pa adox
Some gold OA jou nals, such as hose om
publishe s such as Sp inge , Wiley, Else ie ,
F on ie s and Mul idisciplina y Digi al
Publishing Ins i u e (MDPI), ha e indeed
achie ed as onishing g ow h in impac ac o
(Web o Science Co e Collec ion) and Scimago
Jou nal Rank (Scopus) o e a a he sho
pe iod. On he whole, analyses ha e shown
ha OA jou nals end o ecei e highe and
mo e di e se ci a ions.7 Ano he majo eason
o he quick g ow h o some o hese jou -
nals, as gleaned om a su ey conduc ed on
MDPI, is he e y much a ou ed quick u na-
ound ime om submission o publica ion.8
These gold OA publishe s and hei jou nals
ha e hus quickly achie ed s eady a es o
publica ion and ci a ion, and hei indexing in
p ime da abases such as Scopus and Web o
Science ga e appa en p es ige and acili a ed
bibliome ic assessmen o publica ion ou pu
o hei au ho s and he ins i u ions.
Howe e , he e is po en ially a da ke side
o his g ow h in gold OA publica ions.
Commen s and opinions on he quali y o
such pape s no wi hs anding, i is ac ually
appa en ha some o hese jou nals ha e a
sel -ci a ion issue.9,10 Fo example, a jou nal
Al e na i e explana ions o a publica ion pa adox wi h gold open access
Tang / doi.o g/10.3897/ese.2025.e160424 Page 4 / 7
in which mo e han a housand pape s in
he ecen 3-yea pe iod we e published by
Romanian au ho s has a s agge ing 47% o
i s ci a ions con ibu ing o i s la es impac
ac o being om pape s published in he
jou nal i sel .11 Such jou nal-le el sel -ci a ion
is also an appa en issue o o he gold OA
jou nals.12 Fu he mo e, he e is a ela ed
issue o ci a ion in a jou nal by o he “sis e ”
jou nals om he same publishe . This mode
o in e -jou nal, same-publishe ci a ion is
pa icula ly p ominen o publishe s ha
ha e many jou nal i les wi h b oadly o e -
lapping and poo ly di e en ia ed aims and
scopes.
A s udy compa ing coun y sel -ci a ions
be ween 1996‒2019 has shown ha while
o mos coun ies sel -ci a ions end o
dec ease o e ime, some coun ies (includ-
ing Romania and Uk aine) exhibi anomalous
inc eases, which acco ding o he au ho s
migh be a ibu ed o ecen agg essi e
science policy ini ia i es ha incen i ise an
emphasis on ci a ions.3 The issues men ioned
p e iously would a he e y leas indica e
ha he impac ac o o Scimago Jou nal
Rank alone canno be jus i iably used o
p ope ly gauge jou nal quali y, and ha i
can be manipula ed o abused.12 As such, an
o e all inc ease in publica ions in gold OA
jou nals wi h impac ac o s does no neces-
sa ily mean an o e all inc ease in he quali y
o wo k. In ac , he 2012 San F ancisco
Decla a ion on Resea ch Assessmen has
u ged o esea ch pape s o be assessed
based on hei own c edi and limi s a he
han he jou nal i is published in, and
o elimina e jou nal impac ac o s om
esea ch ou pu assessmen s.13
A icle p ocessing cha ges shi ed he
inancial bu den om eade s o au ho s
and could in gene al signi ican ly cons ain
one’s publica ion in he gold OA mode.
Some unding agencies/ins i u ions ha e
en e ed in o ag eemen s wi h he publish-
e s o pay o hese APCs, which basically
edis ibu es he inancial bu den o he
public. Mos gold OA publishe s ha e o he
ways o alle ia ing he APC bu den om
he indi idual au ho s, o example dis-
coun s o exemp ions ha could be g an ed
o de eloping o low- and middle-income
coun ies, which a e sensible and empa-
he ic measu es. Howe e , he e a e o he
measu es ha could be po en ially abused.
One such measu e is incen i es in e u n
o pee e iew.
While pee e iew has con en ionally
been olun a y, se e al publishe s ha e
now incen i ised e iewe s wi h okens in
he o m o APC discoun ouche s. The
APC o a pape could o en be comple ely
co e ed by se e al e iews o a publishe ,
a ask ha many migh happily unde ake,
pa icula ly i hey do no ha e o labou
on hese pe sonally. O cou se, his need
no mean ha pee e iew quali y would
de ini ely be diminished by hose wo king
ha d a pee e iew o ea n he discoun so
ha hey could publish hei own pape .
Howe e , jus as he e a e hype -p oli ic
au ho s,14 he e a e also e iewe s who a e
in high demand wi h excessi e loads o
e iew eques s.15
The e can be no gua an ee ha he quali y
o he e iews would no be comp omised by
o e loading onesel , inc easing hal -hea ed
a emp s o e iew manusc ip s ha a e no
eally wi hin one’s own a ea o expe ise,
o simply ha ing he asks o loaded un o
o he s who a e no exac ly quali ied, such
as one’s ainees. This po en ial issue would
Al e na i e explana ions o a publica ion pa adox wi h gold open access
Tang / doi.o g/10.3897/ese.2025.e160424 Page 5 / 7
be compounded by he al eady pe cep ible
use o la ge language model-based gene a-
i e a i icial in elligences in pee e iew,16
as s ic ules agains such p ac ices a e no
ye widely decla ed, adop ed o e ec i ely
implemen ed.
A disconce ing mu ually
sus aining/p opaga ing
publishing ci cle
The discussions men ioned p e iously on
sel -ci a ion and APC alle ia ion could lead,
albei no ine i ably, o he disconce ing
hypo he ical scena io below. Gold OA pub-
lishe s in es ed in expedi ing hei jou nals’
edi o ial p ocess o gain popula i y and
submissions. The way he jou nals ope -
a e enhances ci a ions, pa icula ly jou nal
le el o publishe le el sel -ci a ions, which
subsequen ly gain and in la es he jou nals’
impac ac o s, hus p omo ing e en mo e
submissions and ci a ions. Any inancial
cons ain on he pa o au ho s imposed
by APCs could po en ially be alle ia ed by
se e al mechanisms including discoun s o
indi iduals who e iew manusc ip s, which
heigh en he ac i i ies o hose ha seek
inancial de aymen in publishing hei
own pape s, hus po en ially comp omising
s ingency i no in eg i y. The a ainmen
o an impac ac o by any o hese jou nals
would a ac a c i ical mass o au ho s ha
would ensu e a mu ually sus aining i no
p opaga ing loop o submissions, e iews
and publica ions.
Howe e , such a mu ually p opaga ing and
sus aining ci cle in publishing wi hin he
scien i ic communi y would be undesi able
in a leas wo ways. The i s is ha i is all
oo easy o all in ol ed o sink in o a (o
ye ano he ) s a e o collec i e medioc i y,
which is likely wha Ce na was e e ing o
as a “... signi ican decline in o e all scien-
i ic p oduc ion ollowing he in e en-
ion”.1 The second is ha such a loop could
be uns able, and i s b eakdown would be
a he dis up i e o indi idual au ho s. The
Web o Science (Cla i a e) has delis ed a
good numbe o OA jou nals om mul iple
publishe s17 and has ecen ly suspended he
indexing o high- olume jou nals, includ-
ing Heliyon, Cu eus and Bioenginee ed. Wha
such delis ing and suspensions mean is
ha un il eins a emen o indexing s a-
us, a jou nal would no longe ecei e an
impac ac o . Such a dis up ion could lea e
hose who ha e ecen ly published o ha e
manusc ip s unde e iew in he jou nal and
hose in ending o do so soon in disa ay,
pa icula ly hose whose po ions o publica-
ion ack eco ds associa ed wi h he jou nal
could signi ican ly impac imely ca ee
ad ancemen .
The e a e di e en , o en pola ising, pe spec-
i es o he gold OA phenomenon, and one
ha ei he c edi s i s con ibu ion o open sci-
ence,18,19 o i s p omp ing o academics o s i e
o publish highe quali y pape s e en when
unde inancial cons ain s,3 has me i s in gen-
e al. Howe e , o ully e alua e he bene i s o
gold OA would en ail conside a ions on issues
Al e na i e explana ions o a publica ion pa adox wi h gold open access
Tang / doi.o g/10.3897/ese.2025.e160424 Page 6 / 7
ha include sel -ci a ions, po en ially in la ed
impac ac o s, ques ionable esolu ions o
he APC ba ie and he mu ually p opaga -
ing publishing loop ha ha e been discussed
p e iously, none o which a e pa icula ly
conduci e o ue academic well-being.
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Al e na i e explana ions o a publica ion pa adox wi h gold open access
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u al O ganiza ion (UNESCO). UNESCO ecom-
menda ion on open science. h ps:// www.unes
co.o g/e n/open-s cience/a bou . Accessed 18 Ap il
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