Simply put open access offers access to content for free. Open access can be useful for your research but it is also something for you to think about as you create your own work.
There are two types of Open Access that you can use to make your work freely available
HSLIC supports both Green OA and Gold OA and can help you make a determination which is right for you.
See some of the resources below for more information.
The Access Principle by Image retrieved from https://www.plos.org/open-access/
The libraries at UNM are committed to supporting local author's publishing in an Open Access Venue. Resources provided by the library are below.
UNM also has the following Read and Publish Agreements or Fellowships that cover article processing fees with the following publishers:
There have been many studies focused on whether publishing in an Open Access venue provides an advantage for having that work cited. While there is disagreement about methodology in this literature, the majority of studies have found that there is a clear readership advantage to publishing OA, meaning that your work will be read by more people!
See the Open Source / Open Access page on the UNM Copyright Guide for more information on this topic.
Professor Jeffrey Beall defines predatory journals:
"Predatory open-access publishers are those that unprofessionally exploit the gold open-access model for their own profit. That is to say, they operate as scholarly vanity presses and publish articles in exchange for the author fee. They are characterized by various levels of deception and lack of transparency in their operations." (Chronicle of Higher Education)
It is important to understand that some of these are included in databases, so vetting your sources and staying vigilant even in academic and health databases is important. You can look at a journal's information page to gather more information on their mission and background and to gather other context clues as to their reputation.