Our open access ethos

Our vision is to create and disseminate critically acclaimed, evidence-based work that has the potential to make a difference in the world. Over the past two decades we have built a reputation dedicated to that vision. We have set our sights on publishing great scholarship that addresses the global social challenges and broader social science issues that face the world community today.

Research has shown that open access publications have a wider readership and more online mentions than non-open access publications and we wholeheartedly support it as a means to amplify social science perspectives for social good. Our commitment to open access via a not-for-profit route is crucial to this vision for the following reasons: 

Visibility and impact: Open access makes your research more widely and easily visible to researchers, practitioners and policy makers;

Usage: A number of studies and reports have shown that open access journal articles are viewed more often than articles available only to subscribers (see, for example, this RCT published in the BMJ, or this report published by the Research Information Network);

Collaboration: Open access publication fosters greater dialogue across disciplinary and geographical boundaries;

Social Justice: Open access reduces inequalities in access to knowledge due to lack of institutional funding.

Read this article from our Journals and Open Access Director, Julia Mortimer, about open access, inclusivity and not-for-profit publishing.