The first criterion to check is the free access to full texts as the primary goal of Open Access journals. When validating this criterion you should focus on whether a journal in Open Access mode really provides access to the full texts of its articles. Keep in mind that a number of journals provided access to their full texts on the basis of subscription in the past, and only later did they adopt the Open Access mode. Therefore, it is advisable to focus on availability of full texts in the current issue or volume.

Although evaluating this criterion may seem straightforward, unfortunately cases may appear when you hesitate whether you should deem it fulfilled or not. For example, in the journal JSM Bioavailability and Bioequivalence, this criterion will be clearly evaluated as unfulfilled because, after selecting the current issue in the menu on journal’s website, the homepage “About the Journal” loads again instead of the page with articles for download.

However, the evaluation of the journal Noise & Health, may be controversial, because it provides access to its articles in HTML format for free while for a PDF version of articles it charges 20 USD. One person may consider the availability of full text in HTML format to represent a fulfilled criterion while another person might assess the criterion more strictly and expect completely free access to the full text regardless of its format in the open-access mode.