Open-access refers to a publishing model that allows free and unrestricted access to research articles and academic papers. This means that anyone can read, download, and share these works without needing a subscription or payment. Open-access aims to promote the dissemination of knowledge and make research findings available to a wider audience, including researchers, students, and the general public. There are two main types of open-access: gold open-access, where authors pay publication fees to make their work freely available, and green open-access, where authors self-archive their work in repositories after publication. This model supports the idea that publicly funded research should be accessible to everyone.