PÕ¾ÊÓƵ

Author: Katharine Szamuely

Vice President, Open Access at PÕ¾ÊÓƵ

In recent years, scrutiny of how best to achieve sustainable open access globally and at scale has intensified. This is an important conversation, as we continue to explore how best to ensure the benefits of OA are realised, not only within academia but also across policy, innovation and wider society. But while discussions about different routes to OA continue, they should be informed by evidence. Some commentary about the pace and progress of the transition risks overlooking what researcher behaviour, institutional investment and publishing outcomes tell us.  

Recent data from PÕ¾ÊÓƵ's latest and , supported by wider , points to a clear conclusion: the transition to OA has not stalled. Researchers continue to choose open publishing, institutions continue to invest in it, and engagement with open research continues to grow across regions. Taken together, the evidence shows that gold OA remains a key driver of this progress.

Gold OA continues to deliver greater reach, impact and visibility for researchers 

Researchers continue to benefit from and choose gold OA.  when it was offered for 51% of papers in 2025, almost doubling the rate recorded in 2015 (26%). At PÕ¾ÊÓƵ, our white paper shows that, in PÕ¾ÊÓƵ hybrid journals, gold OA articles continue to receive almost seven times more downloads than non-OA articles, around 50% more citations and significantly greater attention beyond academia. At a time when researchers are increasingly expected to demonstrate both the academic and wider influence of their work, gold OA supports these goals. 

Strong and sustained uptake continues to support broader access 

More than 63,000 articles were published with PÕ¾ÊÓƵ through transformative agreements last year, while researchers at over 4,400 institutions are now supported through more than 100 PÕ¾ÊÓƵ agreements globally. The STM data shows that transformative agreements continue to support a significant share of global OA output, accounting for almost one fifth of gold OA output (18% and 338,532 publications) in 2025. The global level of participation in the STM data suggests that transformative agreements are an established part of the research infrastructure that support open publishing at scale. They continue to play an important role in helping institutions navigate the transition to OA by reducing complexity for researchers.  

Broader access is also reflected in the growing participation of researchers around the world in OA publishing. PÕ¾ÊÓƵ data shows that €22 million in waivers and discounts supported authors in low-income and lower-middle-income countries alone, while downloads of OA journal articles in low- and middle-income countries increased by 48% year on year. STM data also shows authors in Research4Life-eligible countries now account for 6% of global research output, with gold OA representing 52% of all publications, above the global average (44%). Together, these figures suggest that more researchers are participating and benefiting from the reach and impact of OA publishing.

Supporting impact beyond academia 

The impact gold OA has does not end with downloads and citations – its broader impact lies in the immediate role it can play in informing and shaping policy and innovation. Between 2018 and 2025, more than 44,300 PÕ¾ÊÓƵ articles were cited in policy documents and more than 75,800 were cited in patents, demonstrating how published research is helping inform decision-making and support innovation. of more than 12 million policy documents worldwide also found that open access research is cited in policy nearly a year earlier, on average, than non-OA content. This highlights the value of immediate access in accelerating the use of research within policy settings, where timely access to evidence can be critical. 

After more than two decades of advancing OA, we remain convinced that gold OA has a central role to play in enabling immediate access to high-quality research - backed up by the data from our latest and wider industry reports. With our experience in OA publishing, working collaborative with the research community, we remain committed to supporting its continued growth – in ways that are sustainable, equitable and responsive to different funding models.   

Debates around different approaches to OA will and should continue. Different communities, disciplines and regions will continue to have different needs and priorities. As we move forwards, collaboration and transparency between publishers, institutions and funders remains key in shaping the next phase of the transition to OA.