The development of knowledge and the rational exploitation of the results of scientific research primarily depend on the level of access to these results. This principle has determined the appearance in the scholarly communication of the Open Access (OA) movement. This article presents international, national and institutional open access policies to the scientific research results. In paper there are also tackled the open access policies in developing and transition countries, and also the initiatives undertaken in Republic of Moldova. This paper attempts to describe some of the most important policy and institutional mandates (of research institutions, funding organizations, and publishers) in the context of scientific communication. It outlines several recommendations for activation of the elaboration of national and institutional policies in Moldova.