One of the biggest benefits of Open Access is how fast and wide research results can be disseminated. Subscription costs and "pay-per-view" costs are eliminated in Open Access journals so that expense is not a barrier so researchers can more easily see what is published on their topic. This in turn facilitates building on research, and collaboration.
Other benefits include:
The problem side of open access is that predatory publishers can mask themselves as open access publishers with integrity, when in fact, their primary goal is financial gain. They charge excessive fees to authors, and may side-step quality assurance processes.
Predatory publishers use the researcher's need to publish for their own gain. A predatory publisher will persistently solicit your research contribution to their journal.
The "publish or perish" environment many faculty and researchers face,along with the ease of website creation created a perfect storm for predatory publishers.
Predatory publishers have these characteristics in common:
How do you know if a journal comes from a predatory publisher? Predatory publishers aggressively solicit researchers by spamming them with opportunities to publish in their journals and/or serve on their "editorial boards". So your first red flag could be those unsolicited emails, full of flattery, and poorly written invitations to publish in, or edit their journal. Reflecting the name or web site style of credible journals.