Nature and characteristics of global attention to research on article processing charges

Abstract

This paper examines research on article processing charges (APCs) to understand the extent of attention given by researchers and assess the status. The study analyses document types, source types, source titles, affiliations, and open access types of APC research. It also explores countries of researchers' affiliations, volume and growth of literature, and visualizes keywords based on data from Scopus. The study utilized data from the Scopus database, known as the world's largest abstract and citation database of scientific literature, to analyze article processing charges (APCs). Some analysis were carried out using inbuilt facility in Scopus while visualization and mapping were executed using Vosviewer. A total of 460 papers in 25 years, averaging 17.7 papers per year, demonstrate significant attention to this area. Many papers addressing APC were published in Green Open Access sources. Researchers from all subject categories in Scopus have contributed to APC research, but the major focus of research in the area is library and information science. Interestingly, researchers outside the field, notably from biomedicine and computer science, have also contributed significantly, reflecting interdisciplinary engagement.