Open access publishing -- panacea or Trojan horse?

There has been a great deal of press material and discussion in recent years regarding open access for online professional publishing. The issue has divided publishers, authors and readers, leaving almost no one neutral. This new concept can potentially affect the majority of publishing businesses, creating new leaders and destroying old ones. It may also, if accepted, radically change the ways we use to store, deliver, and retrieve information. The article presents critical view on the current situation in scientific publishing business indicating constantly rising subscription costs as one of the triggers for a change. The authors analyze the 'open access publishing' idea, pointing out the myths and slogans used by its supporters. The criticism has been expressed on a high costs of publishing shifted on to researchers. The authors propose their solution based on lower submission fees and micro-payments for article access, which might be acceptable to all interested: authors, readers and publishers.