As the number of journals charging article-processing charges (APCs) steadily increases in the global north, the correlation between publications and authors’ ability to pay is inevitably reinforced, argues Juan Pablo Alperin. 

In a recent article, he exposes how the normalisation of APCs in Europe and North America hampers the transition to the Diamond Open Access scholarly publishing model and advocates for ending APCs all together.

JPA goes further in criticising APCs by showing how Latin American researchers who have been embracing Diamond Open Access for the past 20 years are currently under pressure to publish in APC charging journals for “prestige”.  Furthermore, the more institutions pay in APCs, the less they will invest in Diamond Open Access routes. 

To counter the current vicious cycle and move towards a virtuous one, more efforts supporting Diamond Open Access are needed. Instead of supporting APCs, governments should allocate resources to shared infrastructures, tools and services which can support multiple journals simultaneously. Doing so would in turn enable journals to lower their operating costs, enhance their quality and strengthen their role in research assessment.