Open Access: the beast that no-one could – or should – control?

This is an unrefereed preprint of a chapter for a book to be titled <i>‘Here be monsters’: Science, politics and the dilemmas of openness,</i> which is being edited by Brigitte Nerlich, Alexander Smith, Sarah Hartley, and Sujatha Raman, and will eventually be published by Manchester University Press (as an open access publication). My contribution explores the role and impact of open access on public engagement with science. <br><br><b>Update (04-Jul-2016):</b> revised version posted incorporating changes in response to v1. My thanks to all who commented.