The project entitled “Open Access Publishing in Chile: A Study on Circulation Practices and the APC Problem” is led by Erwin Krauskopf (Universidad de Las Américas, Chile) and Fernanda Beigel (CECIC, CONICET-UNCuyo, Argentina), with the participation of Manuel Bruccoleri as part of the research team. The project was approved in December 2024 and is currently under development. It is supported by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) and the Universidad de las Américas (UDLA).
Among its main goals, the project aims to implement in Chile the international survey on publication practices and Article Processing Charges (APCs), which was developed between 2023 and 2024 in several countries as part of the research project “A Comparative Analysis of Open Science, Access and Circulation of Knowledge in Latin America and Africa,” directed by Fernanda Beigel (CECIC) and funded by the Global Research Institute of Paris (GRIP).
The survey not only addresses the challenges of APC-based Open Access but also explores researchers’ awareness of green and diamond routes, as well as the definitions of what constitutes a prestigious journal in each academic discipline. It further delves into researchers’ perceptions of the current challenges and future of scholarly publishing, enriched by a qualitative analysis of the final section of the questionnaire, which is dedicated to the ethical debate surrounding the commodification of science.
In addition, the project seeks to conduct a study of the publication profiles and knowledge circulation patterns of researchers who lead FONDECYT projects in Chile. This will be carried out in the framework of other comparative studies led by CECIC, which focus on alternative data sources such as academic CV platforms.
By combining the survey and the bibliometric study of publications, this project contributes to the development of an innovative approach that brings together sociology and bibliometrics—an approach that is gaining traction worldwide. The survey will provide insights into the individual perceptions and strategies of researchers, while the bibliometric analysis will be cross-referenced with OpenAlex data to offer a detailed picture of their scientific output, accessibility, and APC-related costs. Furthermore, the bibliometric component will enable public agencies to identify the presence of predatory journals, thereby contributing valuable evidence to inform the design of a national, non-commercial Open Access policy.