Open Journal of Accounting, 2014, 3, 1-2
Published Online January 2014 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojacct)
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojacct.2014.31001
The Open Access Model, Trends and Opportunities in
Accounting Research
Simone Domenico Scagnelli
Department of Management, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Email: simone.scagnelli@unito.it
Received July 16, 2013; revised August 25, 2013; accepted September 6, 2013
Copyright © 2014 Simone Domenico Scagnelli. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
In accordance of the Creative Commons Attribution License all Copyrights © 2014 are reserved for SCIRP and the owner of the
intellectual property Simone Domenico Scagnelli. All Copyright © 2014 are guarded by law and by SCIRP as a guardian.
Dear Editor
Nowadays academic scholars are increasingly facing
the need of appropriate devices to disseminate know-
ledge and build up reputation; the “publish or perish”
imperative stands out as a crucial warning in academia.
Indeed, scientific publishing is a relevant device for va-
lidating and circulating new knowledge, as well as a
means for rewarding researchers who can easily convert
publications into salary, career promotions, new oppor-
tunities and research funding [1]. However, while the
current economic downturn is affecting global businesses
and leading to an overall increase of competitiveness, the
marketplace of scholarly publications is facing a deep
crisis because of the rise of journals’ subscription prices
and Universities’ budget cuts and libraries’ constraints.
In the meantime, an increasing number of young scholars
seek for sources and opportunities to disseminate re-
search without economic constraints linked to copyrights
and subsc ri ption fees .
Despite the related debate and argumentations of such
issues, it seems that the “mo ral” component of research
has overcome copyright and profit considerations by
taking a distinctive direction toward a new way of re-
search dissemination, the Open Access model (OA).
OA leverages on technological innovations, such as
internet based web platforms, which allows scientific
articles to be available and circulate at no cost for readers.
OA adopts a commons-based system (i.e. free of entry
without payment) in contrast with the existing enclo-
sure-based system (i.e. reliant on exclusion against a
price for access). Therefore, OA is a substantial useful
effort in conforming to the theory that science must be
open and accessible to everyone. Furthermore, the OA
model eliminates exclusionary leverage over readers,
which is instead a pivotal feature of the current publish-
ing market [2] while scientific quality and standing can
be ensured by ordinary editorial processes based on ri-
gorous blind peer review, high visibility, prompt disse-
mination and involvement of recognised scholars as edi-
torial boa r ds’ mem be rs .
OA can play a significant role in real scientific disse-
mination: openness is not restricting scholars to specific
research boundaries, in contrast with the enclosed publi-
cation system which relies on mainstream research topics
that usually drive subscr iptio ns and citations [3].
Therefore, in the last decade an increasing number of
OA publications have been released, leading today’s total
figure up to ten thousands internet based open journals.
The leading disciplines among the available OA journals
are Medicine, Education and Computer Sciences which
reach one third of the total. Although Business and
Management subjects are covered by more than 400 OA
journals, a figure which increases every month, only few
journals are specifically focused and designed to disse-
minate Accounting research. On a worldwide basis, the
current number of OA publications specifically devoted
to Accounting hardly reaches a total number of 40 and,
among them, the majority are published in South Ameri-
ca and use Portuguese and Spanish as main languages of
publication.
Moreover, the majority of such OA journals are affi-
liated or published by public or private institutions which
can limit the topic and, therefore, the publication chance
of the proposed articles. Yet, mainstream accounting
research is dogmatizing an image of efficient markets in
which investors make ratio nal decisions by evalu ating all
risks and returns of alternatives thanks to accounting and
financial disclosure. The concept of “economic man”
based on the rational behavior of users is too simplistic
[4]. It is high time that accounting literatur e moves away
from narrow mainstream approaches and adopts a much
broader research perspective based on the dissemination
of new frameworks and innovative advances.
Therefore, the role played by a journal such as the
OPEN ACCESS OJAcct
