Middle-income countries disproportionately face the burden of the Open Access publication model

Abstract

While the Open Access (OA) publishing model may promote equity in the readership of scientific publications, its implications for global research authorship remain poorly quantified. We analysed 1,117,978 publications over the past 20 years from 587 ecology and evolution journals to compare differences in publication rates, a) between Subscription-Based (SB) and OA publishing models, and b) before and after journals transitioned to the fully OA model, across country income groups and journal Article Publishing Charges. We found that, compared to the SB model, publication rates were generally lower under the OA publishing model, and these differences were highest in middle-income countries (63%; where only APC discounts are provided) than in low-income countries (43%; where full APC waivers are automatically provided). These differences also increased with increasing journal APC. For journals transitioning to a fully OA publication model, publication rates decreased for journals with low APCs (<2,425 USD) but increased for journals with higher APCs (<3,190 USD). We argue that as OA impacts publishing potential based on the author's ability to pay publication charges, it undermines authorship equity and has significant implications for defining global research trends, specifically from middle-income countries. Hence, the OA model risks amplifying geographic and institutional disparities in ecology and conservation science, despite its egalitarian philosophy. Incorporating publishing models that account for individual- and institutional-level variations in funding availability, or providing alternative publishing pathways, can help reduce this disparity.