Addressing Potential Inequalities in OA Adoption | Estateplanning

Efforts to make scientific knowledge freely available through open access (OA) publishing face deep inequities rooted in Article Processing Charges (APCs) that disadvantage researchers from low-income regions, early-career scholars, and underrepresented groups. Initiatives like Plan S and cOAlition S aim to accelerate full and immediate OA, yet barriers persist, including hybrid models and subscription legacies that perpetuate exclusion. Addressing these gaps requires equitable funding, institutional collaboration, and policy reforms to prevent OA from swapping one paywall for another.