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Given the limitations of relying solely on fee-access journals to disseminate scholarly articles, it’s logical that there are now new options that permit expanded use. For example:

• Open-access journals — whose costs are covered through publication fees, sponsorships, in-kind contributions, or other sources of support — are emerging as an alternative to the traditional subscription model. More than 2200 open-access journals in wide-ranging fields are listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals.

• Online open archives hosted by universities (“institutional repositories”) and governments provide free access to articles, supplementary materials, supporting data, working papers, pre-prints, images, and more. They extend the options for disseminating scholarly work, serving as complements to traditional journals. So, for example, physics papers often will first appear in preliminary form for community feedback in the arXiv.org physics repository. Subsequently, they appear in final form in a peer-reviewed journal and in arXiv.org. Despite the free availability on arXiv.org, physics journals have continued to flourish.

Open-access and economically priced journals recognize and preserve the important role of peer review in scholarly communication, while breaking down or lowering access barriers.

Open access utilizes new technology, sustainability strategies, and legal mechanisms to facilitate the sharing of information that is so vital to the progress of scholarship.