Week 10: What are Paywalls and Open Access?

A paywall restricts access to content Links to an external site. with a purchase or a paid subscription Links to an external site., especially news.  (Paywall - Wikipedia) Links to an external site.

If you have ever tried to read an article only to be blocked by a page that tells you you must pay to read that article, you've encountered a paywall! This image shows what a paywall might look like if you tried to read an academic paper you found online such as Google Scholar. Using the Open Web in general, many of your results will be behind a paywall. TIP: Always cross-check against GCC's OneSearch Links to an external site. as we do have many journals that aren't linked through Google Scholar. 

 

Example of paywalled article.

 

A paywall is most often found on newspaper, magazine, and journal websites. You may be able to see some content for free, but then you're asked to pay. Libraries (like your local public library and Glendale Community College Library) subscribe to resources, so you don't have to pay for them.

If you find an article behind a paywall that you think will be helpful to your research, first check GCC Library's OneSearch Links to an external site. to determine if we have online access to the item. If not, contact GCC Library Interlibrary Loan Links to an external site.. They search libraries around the country to find your resource. They are (mostly) free to you and emailed within one week. 



Open Access

Open Access means anyone can read an academic article anytime, anywhere.* As discussed above, when you search in Google Scholar, it is likely at some point, you'll hit a paywall. If an article is published in an expensive subscription-based journal, there is a fee to gain access. The cost is either paid by your school when they subscribe to the journal or you pay that or your library does. (Don't forget Interlibrary Loan!)

Where paywalls act to limit access to research, Open Access is just that, open to everyone. It is a question of equity. Prior to the Open Access movement, access was essentially limited to researchers in well-funded institutions, hospitals, and foundations with access to subscription journals. Researchers in less affluent regions of the world, such as the Global South Links to an external site., could not join the "conversation."  Open Access frees knowledge previously exclusive to wealthy nations and is inclusive.

READ: OPEN ACCESS Links to an external site.  & Critical Thinking: Open Access Links to an external site. (Introduction to College Research) 

 

Open access to health research: WHO joins cOAlition S Links to an external site.


Additional Reading: 

On March 16, 2021, UC Berkeley worked with Elsevier, the world's largest academic journal publisher, on a four-year open access agreement. It allows more of UCB's research to be available to anyone, no matter where they reside. University Librarian Jeffrey MacKie-Mason said  in light of the deal Links to an external site., "The benefits of open access publishing are enormously widespread — they help fields including science, public policy, public health and education."


*Global South

The phrase “Global South” refers broadly to the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. It is one of a family of terms, including “Third World” and “Periphery,” that denote regions outside Europe and North America, mostly (though not all) low-income and often politically or culturally marginalized. The use of the phrase Global South marks a shift from a central focus on development or cultural difference toward an emphasis on geopolitical relations of power.  (Contexts)

Contexts, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 12-13. ISSN 1536-5042, electronic ISSN 1537-6052. © 2012 American Sociological Association. http://contexts.sagepub.com. DOI 10.1177/1536504212436479

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Adapted from Zoe Fisher --schin Fall 2017 / Laura Luiz --alerner Spring 2022 - *adapted from Scholarly Research Impact https://libguides.library.ohio.edu/scholarly-research-metrics/openaccess