Mapping Open Access Publishing Trends in Bangladesh: A Study with Reference to Open Access Journals and Repositories

Abstract

Open Access initiative in Bangladesh dates back to the opening of icddr, b Journal of Diarrhoeal Disease Research (JDDR) in 1997 by International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. Since then considerable development of Open Access has occurred. The study also provided some recommendations for improvement of IR and open movement in Bangladesh. The paper analyzes current open access publishing trends in Bangladesh in the light of open access journals and repositories in Bangladesh. The data for the study were collected from BanglaJOL and OpenDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories) in August 2017.Thefindings of the study indicate that the trends towards the development of open access repositories are increasing among higher education and research institutions in Bangladesh. Through BanglaJOL nearly 97% of journals in Bangladesh are published open access. There are total 11 IR found in OpenDOAR and ROAR in Bangladesh. It is found in this study that among 11 repositories 8 repositories have specified policy rules with regards to metadata, data, content, submission, and preservation. But the scenario is different in terms of OAI-PMH compliance. Presently only 3 repositories are following the OAI-PMH protocols in Bangladesh. Moreover, this trend should be increased to a larger proportion and all toll-access publishing would be turned open in Bangladesh through mass consciousness and initiatives at broader level. This study recommends that present trend should be increased to a larger proportion and all toll-access publishing would be turned open in Bangladesh through mass consciousness and initiatives at broader level.