An International Workshop
Creating the Information Commons for e-Science:
Toward Institutional Policies and Guidelines for Action
UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France
1-2 September 2005

Open Access Journals and the Latin American Scientific Research Context

Clemente Forero-Pineda
Universidad de los Andes
Bogota, Colombia

Open access to scientific information provides new access possibilities to researchers from developing countries. Based on in-depth interviews to editors of open-access, arbitrated journals in five Latin American countries, this paper examines the environment of a rapidly growing editorial activity. The idea is to explore how these journals are financed; the reasons they had to move into open-access, since many of them were subscription paper journals just five years ago; the impact of this change of financial model and of digitalization on access, visibility and the interest of authors in submitting articles; the policies of Governments in Latin America towards scientific publishing and open access; and the practices in the use of information, citing and publishing of the most recognized researchers in different areas of science. A comparative analysis allows understanding the potential and limitations of open access journals in Latin America, the role that they may play in giving Latin American scientific production a wider visibility, and their contribution to the worldwide movement towards free access to scientific literature.