Open access to scientific publications: the final step

Abstract

In the first decade of this century the emergence of the open access movement has brought significant changes in the current dissemination of research results. Nowadays every researcher is aware that, one way or another, the results of their research must be accessible to all, at the insistence of those who fund such projects. Nevertheless, it is surprising to see the relatively small proportion of documents publicly available to access, when compared to the total number that are published. Perhaps the fact that doubts still remain as to what open access actually involves, together with a failure to monitor compliance with the requirements, means that the percentage fails to increase. The time has now come to take the final step if we wish to make a clear commitment to open access.