Making the choice:
paid vs open access journals

The shift toward open access publishing has been significant and sustained. Many major funders now mandate open access as a condition of grant funding. Institutional deals between universities and publishers have expanded open access options. And the argument for broader readership has become harder to dismiss.

But the choice between traditional subscription journals and open access isn't always straightforward — particularly for researchers whose field still places high weight on specific journal brands, or who don't have institutional support for article processing charges. Here's how the four main factors actually compare.

• 01
  Visibility

  The evidence on open access visibility is consistent. Studies have found that open access papers receive substantially more full-text downloads, more unique visitors, and more PDF downloads than equivalent subscription papers. The mechanism is simple: if your paper is freely available, more people can read it. Researchers at institutions without the relevant subscription — including many in lower-income countries — are effectively excluded from subscription content. If maximising the reach of your findings is the priority, open access has a clear advantage.
• 02
  Cost

  Traditional subscription journals are free for authors to publish in — readers (or their libraries) pay for access. Open access journals typically charge an article processing charge (APC) at acceptance, which can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand depending on the journal and publisher. Whether this cost falls on you depends entirely on your situation. If your grant includes open access publishing fees, or your institution has a transformative agreement with the publisher, the APC may be covered or waived. If not, it's a real out-of-pocket cost. Many journals also offer APC waivers for authors from low- and middle-income countries.
• 03
  Prestige

  This is where open access publishing faces its most persistent challenge. Many of the journals with the highest impact factors and strongest reputations in a given field are traditional subscription journals with long histories. Newer open access journals, even high-quality ones, often lack established impact factors and the reputational weight that matters for hiring and promotion decisions. If your career depends on publications in specific journals — as is the case in many competitive fields — this constraint is real and shouldn't be dismissed. It is, however, changing: several high-prestige open access journals now carry significant impact and recognition.
• 04
  Speed

  Open access journals tend to publish more quickly than traditional subscription journals, partly because they're not constrained by print schedules and backlogs. Many now publish accepted manuscripts online within days of acceptance, with formal publication following shortly after. Traditional journals, especially high-volume ones, can have significant delays between acceptance and publication in an issue. If speed to publication matters — particularly in fast-moving fields or in clinical contexts where findings have immediate relevance — open access offers a practical advantage.

The practical decision

There's no universal answer. The right choice depends on your field, your institution, your funding, and what you're trying to achieve with a particular paper.

A reasonable framework: if you have APC coverage and a strong open access journal in your field with good readership, the visibility and speed advantages make it the better choice. If your field is still strongly hierarchical around specific traditional journals, or you don't have fee coverage, targeting the best-fit traditional journal remains a sound approach.

The one factor that should rarely be decisive on its own is cost. Most major publishers offer some form of waiver or discount; it's always worth asking before assuming a particular option is out of reach.

For a more detailed guide to the selection process — including how to assess scope fit, impact factor appropriateness, and publication speed — see our piece on how to choose the best academic journal for your paper.