The Financial Toxicity of Open Access in Settings With Limited Resources

Why should I pay to publish my data? Young scientists with no research funding face the challenge of sharing their results in academic journals. This has caused a significant negative impact on the open science mouvement, particularly for authors in countries with limited resources such as in Africa. Authors in these settings cannot afford the high fees of open access publishing. The World Bank classification is not a good measure to select authors who can benefit from full or partial waivers.

I am an author from a country that benefits from a 50% waiver, but I cannot pay these fees to share my findings in open access journals and respond to the open science requirements. This financial toxicity of open science should be prioritized when discussing the public trust in science. The aim of this project idea is to increase awareness of the danger behind open science and attract scientists and stackholders to find urgent solutions particularly during this transformation of hybrid journals to full open access.

Image courtesy of Khalid El Bairi

Skills for Project