Over the past two decades, open access publishing has rapidly grown into a global industry, making scholarly publications readily available to researchers, policymakers, and the general public. While this has generally been seen as a positive development, the predominant “Gold” open access route has also given rise to unforeseen challenges. With this statement, ALLEA aims to inform and advise its Member Academies and the broader research community on how to counteract the proliferation of open access journals that have unacceptable editorial and publication standards, so as to avoid the wasting of research funds and erosion of research integrity standards. Published on the occasion of the 2023 International Open Access Week, this statement was prepared by ALLEA’s Permanent Working Group on Science and Ethics, with Professor László Fésüs as principal author.