No paywalls
Open Access is a part of Open Science. The digitized processes of scientific publishing allow publications to be made freely available on the Internet. Open Access means that access to electronic publications is sustainable and possible worldwide without paywalls or other legal barriers (in opposition to Closed Access).
Who funds Open Access?
Free access to scientific literature does not mean that Open Access is for free. Costs just do not fall on the readers. Commercial publishers charge publication fees to the authors or the scientific institutions to which they belong. Alternatively, funding solutions are found through memberships and central agreements.
In addition to commercial offers, academic libraries, professional communities, or research institutions offer their own publication options without charging publication fees. These include publication servers (repositories), publication platforms with journals edited by scientists, or scientific publishers.
Further information
The platform open-access.network provides a comprehensive overview of the topic of Open Access. The webinars, videos, and information on various scientific disciplines are also recommended.