The transition of scholarly open access publishing: Trends and challenges

AbstractThe landscape of scholarly publishing has undergone a profound transformation in recent decades, driven mainly by digital technologies. At the heart of this evolution lies the concept of Open Access (OA), a movement advocating for unrestricted, free online access to research outputs. While commercial publishers have long dominated the traditional subscription-based model under a paywall, the limitations it imposes on knowledge dissemination, particularly for researchers and institutions in developing nations, have led to a global push towards OA. This paper provides a comprehensive transition of open access publishing, exploring its diverse models and trends, examining the challenges it faces, and analyzing its potential impact on the future of research.