Open-Access Journals Flourish

At least 1,525 journals provide free access, making up 5 to 10 percent of the world's journals. The free journals are gaining influence too: Thomson Scientific, which tracks academic publishing, found they're commonly cited by other journals, suggesting that they're well-read. Meanwhile, other journals are opening their archives to readers for free.
"It's very exciting that publishers the world over are recognizing the benefits of open access and are conducting their own experiments," said Gavin Yamey, senior editor of PLOS Medicine, one of two flagship journals published by the Public Library of Science, which helped spearhead the concept of providing free online access.
... Many of the open-access journals make money by charging researchers who want to have their papers published. At PLOS Medicine and PLOS Biology, for example, authors pay $1,500 each, unless they can't afford it. (PLOS began with $9 million in grant money, but the funds don't defray author fees.) Three new PLOS journals scheduled to debut later this year -- covering pathogens, genetics and computational biology -- will also charge $1,500 an article.