The increasing unaffordability of OA fees for Global South countries

The public budget for science funding is constantly under pressure around the globe. However, the scientific production remains very uneven, with clear consequences for how knowledge is produced and circulated. Here, we calculated the publication costs for countries, estimating how many can afford Article Processing Charges (APC) based on their public investment on science. Although the US has the greatest number of publications, China has the highest growth rate, and Japan the highest value invested per publication. Importantly, only 21 % of the countries can afford APCs. The difference in global investment in R&D and the unpractical fees charged by journals increase inequality in science, pushing poor countries to publish in lower-impact and predatory journals.全球范围内，科研资助的公共预算始终面临压力。然而全球科研产出分布仍极不均衡，这对知识的生产与传播模式产生了显著影响。本研究针对各国核算了论文发表成本，基于各国公共科研投入，估算了能够负担论文出版处理费（Article Processing Charges, APC）的国家数量。尽管美国的论文发表总量居全球首位，但中国的发表量增速最快，而日本的单篇论文平均科研投入最高。值得注意的是，全球仅21%的国家能够负担APC费用。全球研发（Research and Development）投入的差距与期刊收取的不合理高额费用，进一步加剧了科研领域的不平等，迫使贫困国家只能在低影响力期刊乃至掠夺性期刊上发表论文。