Reflections on Financing Open Access Initiatives

analyzing the Article Processing Charges (APC) and public funding policies in Brazilian journals

Abstract

A decrease in the financial resources available for research and the closure of open access journals in Brazil due to the economic and political crisis lead to the question: if access is free to readers and there is no subscription charge, how is it possible to finance scientific and academic journals? The aim of this study is to reflect on this issue and present an overview of the national panorama using an exploratory and descriptive quantitative-qualitative approach, through a bibliographic research focused on the period between 2016 and 2021. The results of the bibliographic research showed that Brazilian journals depend predominantly on public funds, and even those that apply Article Processing Charges (APC) are financed indirectly with these funds, since they are also paid with resources from public funding agencies. Internationalization would be one of the causes of the rise in costs for the maintenance of journals. There is debate about whether or not to reduce the requirements for internationalization of journals, which could contribute to reducing publication costs, but would imply some losses and the isolation of Brazilian science. One possible solution presented is the standardization and rationalization of the allocation of resources for financing journals and Article Processing Charges, such as the PLAN S initiative. The search for viable solutions to reduce costs and for alternative forms of financing is necessary to maintain the Brazilian scientific journals.