This paper aims to provide an overall framework of how the new publishing model, namely open access, affects scholarly communication and scholarly publishing and investigate the challenges and ethical issues. The examination will focus on technological changes closely related to the topic, defining concepts such as scholarly communication and open access, and evaluating the emerging debates regarding the new publishing model, focusing exclusively on its two main paths. This paper also considers the role of academic and other research organisations’ librarians in this regard; in short, for readability employed as ‘librarians’; also, how they might effectively support this endeavour.