Hi, Souhad,

I think this is a very good question with several important perspectives to keep in mind.

First, most of these open access journals charge the author for the publication, so that alone can make these venues unfeasible for many. There is also the question of whether or not the journal/publisher is legitimate - see http://beallslist.weebly.com/

Secondly, the costs associated with gaining access to traditional publication outlets is slowly crippling the dissemination of research. As publisher profits escalate, fewer and fewer will be able to access anything published in the more "reputable" journals. Many researchers are promoting the open access journals as an alternative to repudiate the existing unfair financial practices.

Thirdly, early career researchers, especially those without an experienced and well-funded mentor, may need to get published somewhere. Any publication in the beginning is better than none at all.

Fourthly, I suspect that the stigma that may be currently associated with open access journals will tend to remit over time as citation metrics improve.

Thank you Peter for your feedback and for the link regarding non legitimate publisher.

So you think we have to invest some of our energy into these journals?

The problem that they are not indexed into the most used scientific database, namely PubMed, and it is too hard to find them on Google! Even these publishers are trying to bribe us by low cost or, sometime, costless submissions, I find myself obliged, somehow, to do my own adv for my publication and for these journals!