the movement initiated almost 15 years ago to open up scientific texts to the international community, known as Open Access, has led to numerous initiatives, both individual and collective, and is the subject of official declarations and agreements between research organisations, the effects of which are still difficult to measure. Here we are trying to show what these advances have been, and the obstacles that stand in the way of transparency and pooling of research results. We show that the drawing up of agreements of intent which seem to be necessary (Budapest Initiative, Berlin Declaration, etc.) will raise key questions of intellectual property law, costs, recognition and evaluation of new ways of disseminating scientific results. We also show how these important texts (in particular the Berlin Declaration) place Open Access in a much broader perspective of the dissemination of information, which incorporates essential elements of research itself, as well as the independence of science from pressure groups which tend to influence its research axes. We are therefore wondering about the opportunity this Open Access can represent for a more free and universal dissemination of scientific knowledge in general, and about the place thus offered to scientific words that are marginal or even not in line with the prevailing paradigms.