POST: Open Access: The View from Latin America

Emma Clarke (Peter Lang Publishers) has contributed a post on the International Open Access Week website discussing the adoption of open access (OA) publishing in Latin America. She notes that,

The popularity of OA in Latin America is soaring. Scholars in the region understand the importance of making their research accessible to all, especially since regional economic constraints tend to restrict access to knowledge through printed publications. As a result, university presses favour OA publishing in most cases and have their own online platforms. In fact, the OA model is used more extensively here than in any other region in the world, in the form of online repositories hosting journals and dissertations at a regional, national and institutional level.

Clarke also addresses some of the challenges with OA publishing in Latin America, namely article processing charges (APCs), which inhibit the inclusion of research in open access venues outside of Latin America. This is just one of the unresolved inequities of publishing in Latin America. Clarke suggests “Implementing a system in which knowledge and ground-breaking research is accessible to citizens from all walks of life, in their preferred language, regardless of economic, educational and geographical limitations,” as well as providing stable internet connections to enable this work.