Scholarly Communications

     The internet provides us with the opportunity to share information in new ways and create new networks of communication that do not necessarily resemble the traditional methods of scholarly communication: peer-reviewed journals, academic presses, and in-person conferences where papers are given. One of the new trends that is the creation of Open Access research outputs. Institutional repositories where researches can share information with colleagues, peer-to-peer journals, and blogs, are some of venues that support the free transfer of information. Even though information is free to share, there are costs associated with providing this service: editing, preservation and access, typesetting, and peer reviews are among services which have to be taken into account. In order to make open access sustainable, these costs have to be offset. While no single model has been identified as the most effective, there are several alternatives.

• Green Open Access: researchers self archive and place their works in an institutional or subject repository.
• Gold Open Access: researchers pay publishers to retain rights to freely share their work.
• Hybrid Gold Open Access: researchers pay to retain rights and deposit in a repository, but access to the journal remains behind a paywall.
• Platinum Open Access: the costs and maintenance is assumed by volunteers who give their time to support the journal or repository
• Another proposed model is open access presses supported by academic institutions and consortiums.