Oxford Journals' adventures in open access

In 2004, Oxford Journals began experimenting with an 'author-side payment' open access model for its flagship molecular biology journal, Nucleic Acids Research (NAR). Since then, around 70 of its approximately 200 journals have adopted an open access model of some kind, providing a unique perspective on the practicalities involved and the potential impact of open access on established academic journals. Under NAR's full open access model, submissions and author satisfaction remain encouragingly stable, and most NAR authors are paying the open access charges. NAR's income per article declined in 2005, but increased once more in 2007. The journal remains financially viable under the new model. Uptake of the optional 'Oxford Open' model varies by discipline. It is highest in the life sciences: in the region of 17-25% for some molecular and computational biology journals. It is too soon to tell whether the 'Oxford Open' model will have an impact on subscriptions, usage, and citations, but further research is under way.