Openness
Can readers access the work and can authors publish without financial barriers?
3PO Score Index
Pyrrhic Press Open-Access Index
Open publishing deserves measurable standards.
The 3PO Index is an independent evaluation framework designed to examine how journals, repositories, and scholarly platforms support openness, accessibility, discovery, and transparent publishing practices.
The3POINDEXOPEN • ACCESS • IMPACT
10Evaluation dimensions
$0Evaluation fee
ClearPublished methodology
UsefulScore and digital badge
What the index examines
A broader view of scholarly openness.
Open access is more than removing a reader paywall. The 3PO framework considers whether authors face publication charges, how clearly rights are communicated, whether research is discoverable, and whether the publisher demonstrates transparent and ethical practices.
The result is a structured snapshot intended to help publishers identify strengths, uncover barriers, and communicate their commitment to accessible scholarship.
Infrastructure
Are identifiers, author records, licensing, and discovery practices in place?
Reach
Is the research visible, cited, shared, and connected to wider communities?
Trust
Are policies, publishing practices, and ethical expectations clearly presented?
The evaluation framework
Ten dimensions. One clearer picture.
Each dimension contributes to the final assessment. The complete scoring rules and formula are published separately for transparency.
Free to Read
Immediate access without a subscription or required login.
Free to Publish
No mandatory article-processing or publication charge.
Creative Commons
Clear reuse rights communicated through an open license.
Persistent Identifiers
DOIs or comparable identifiers supporting durable discovery.
Scholar Citations
Evidence that published work is being found and referenced.
ORCID Presence
Support for reliable author identification and attribution.
Open Accessibility
Features that make content usable, available, and inclusive.
Social & Alternative Reach
Engagement beyond conventional academic citation channels.
Research Discovery
Public visibility, indexing, sharing, and community engagement.
Transparency & Ethics
Accessible policies and responsible publishing practices.
How it works
From submission to a usable result.
Requesting an evaluation is free. Provide accurate information and a public URL so the available evidence can be reviewed.
- 1
Submit
Share the journal, repository, or publishing website and its relevant practices.
- 2
Evaluate
The submission is reviewed across the ten published 3PO dimensions.
- 3
Receive
Receive the resulting score and, when issued, a digital badge for display.
Score interpretation
Understand the result at a glance.
Scores summarize the evidence reviewed through the 3PO methodology. Higher scores indicate stronger alignment with the framework’s openness, accessibility, discovery, and transparency criteria.
Highly Open
Strong alignment across the framework.
Partially Open
Substantial openness with remaining barriers.
Limited Access
Meaningful restrictions or incomplete practices.
Ready to be evaluated?
Measure openness. Find opportunities. Show your work.
Request a complimentary 3PO evaluation for an eligible journal, repository, or scholarly publishing platform.
You have options for who and where you read and publish...
Free to Read and Free to Publish:
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"Pyrrhic Press Publishing: As per the available information, this publisher offers free access and does not charge authors for publication."
- NO login required
- NO paywalls
***Platforms like PLOS ONE, Scientific Reports, Nature Communications, BMJ Open, BMC Medicine, Frontiers in Psychology, Frontiers in Neuroscience, PeerJ, MDPI Journals, SAGE Open, Springer Open, Elsevier Open Access, Wiley Open Access, Taylor & Francis Open, Cogitatio Press, and F1000Research, while they offer open-access articles, accessing the full content may require user registration or login. It's advisable to visit their official websites to confirm their current access policies.