Adoption Of Open Access Research Articles

An empirical investigation of open access scholarly publishing trends in social sciences at high-ranked central universities of India

Purpose This study aims to analyze the adoption of open access (OA) publishing in social sciences within central universities in India, focusing on various aspects such as the growth of OA literature, the use of different OA routes and collaboration patterns in OA publications. Design/methodology/approach Ten central universities were selected based on their rankings in the National Institute Ranking Framework 2022. Data on OA publishing in social sciences were collected from the Social Science Citation Index of the Web of Science (WoS) database using the advanced search query “(CU=India OR AD=India) AND PY=(2003–2022) NOT PY=(2023).” Data analysis was conducted using MS Excel (v16.0), BibExcel (version 2017), Biblioshiny (version 4.1.2) and Google Open Refine (version 3.7). Findings The study found that 30.40% of total publications were OA, with BHU as leading institute in OA publishing. OA publishing in social sciences saw a consistent increase, peaking in 2022 with 209 publications. “Sustainability” and “Plos One” were among the top ten journals, with 103 and 34 OA papers, respectively. OA publications had a higher mean citation rate than closed access publications. Collaboration with seven and nine authors had higher mean citation rates, while six-author collaborations were lower. Indian researchers received the most citations collaborating with the USA, UK and Australia. The Netherlands and Saudi Arabia received the fewer citations, when collaborating with Indian authors. Research limitations/implications The study’s main limitation is its reliance on WoS data, excluding many OA publications from smaller or specialized journals. Additionally, the focus on high-ranked central universities may not represent the entire academic landscape, as OA publishing patterns vary across other institutions and disciplines. Practical implications The study’s findings suggest that advancing OA publishing in social sciences at Indian universities requires raising awareness of OA concepts, enhancing institutional support and policies and informing researchers about funding opportunities. Emphasizing Gold OA and funding publication fees can broaden access to research. Universities with low OA ratios should adopt similar policies, mandate public research deposits and develop technical infrastructure. Encouraging multi-author collaborations can boost research impact and citation rates. Insights from the study can help institutions and policymakers shape effective OA strategies, enhancing the visibility and impact of social science research. Originality/value This is the first study analyzing the adoption of OA in the field of social sciences in high-ranked central universities in India. It has implications for promoting OA and increasing accessibility to research outputs. Universities with higher OA ratios can lead in this regard and encourage others to adopt similar practices for overall OA growth.

Open Access in language testing and assessment: The case of two flagship journals

This study is a systematic examination of the open access status of research in two flagship language testing and assessment journals: Language Testing and Language Assessment Quarterly. Coding and analysing 898 articles, we investigated (a) the prevalence of open access in four aspects—open manuscripts, open materials, open data, and open code, and (b) the relationship between open access and various characteristics of research, tests, and researchers. Our study revealed a positive trend in the adoption of open access over time, with open manuscripts and materials showing notable increases. Open code and data have remained scarce, though with a recent uptick from a low base. Notably, logistic regression results suggest inequitable participation in open access as authors from the Global South were less likely to have open manuscripts. Recognising the potential role of flagship journals as trend and standard setters, we call on the field to (a) shift towards more equitable open access models, (b) balance intellectual property concerns with validation needs, (c) recognise open code and open data with protected access via dedicated badges, and (d) adopt Research Transparency Statements, a new reporting structure inclusive of methodological and epistemological differences in open research practices.

Examining the Diffusion and Adoption of Open Access Publishing among Academics at the University of Limpopo, South Africa

This study examined the diffusion and adoption of open access (OA) publishing among 250 academic staff members at the University of Limpopo (UL), South Africa. The study was guided by Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) theory to measure their (the academics’) level of awareness on the availability of OA platforms, to determine their adoption and usage levels of OA publishing for scholarly communication, to establish their attitudes towards the use of the OA publishing platforms, and to identify their perspectives with regard to challenges and benefits presented by OA publishing. A questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument. The findings revealed that most academics were, “to some extent,” aware of OA publishing, through their subject librarians and the internet. Although most were “strongly in favour” of OA publishing, their level of adopting it was lower than expected. The institutional repository (IR) was found to be the OA platform they have used most frequently to upload journal articles. Article processing charges (APCs), connectivity related issues, articles not being peer reviewed, predatory publishers, and lack of knowledge and OA access policies remain some of the challenges encountered in adopting OA publishing. It is recommended that the library staff should intensify its OA publishing marketing strategies and educate academics about its implications through workshops and seminars. Rewards for academics who publish in OA platforms should also be considered by the institution, and the academics who are reaping the benefits of OA publishing should also showcase their rewards to the other academics.

Scholarly Community towards Open Source

Scholarly communities are increasingly adopting open source practices in various areas including software, publishing and data analysis. The focus of this article is on the shift towards open source publication, specifically open access publication. Open access publication refers to the practice of making research articles and other scientific outputs freely available to the public through open access repositories or open-access journals. This practice has many benefits including increased visibility, improved access, enhanced collaboration, greater accountability, enhanced education and public understanding. The move towards open access has been driven by various factors including the proliferation of the internet, funder and policymaker requirements, concerns about high journal subscription costs and the availability of open access publishing platforms. Challenges to the adoption of open access include the need for a cultural shift and the potential for loss of income for some publishers. Despite these challenges, open access has the potential to transform the way that research is shared and disseminated, leading to greater impact and collaboration in the scientific community.

Open Access Publishing and its Academic, Economic, and Societal Impact

This paper examines the status of Open Access (OA) publishing in India and reviews its academic, economic, and societal impact. The study adopted descriptive and review methods. Data was extracted from directories, online databases, and websites for analyzing OA trends at the global level and in India. Studies related to the topic were also reviewed to examine the academic, economic, and societal impact of OA publishing on different stakeholders. The study's findings suggest that the number of OA journals indexed in Scopus, WoS, and DOAJ is consistently growing in India. A significant amount of research literature published in Scopus and WoS indexed journals is OA, making India one of the leading nations in the OA movement. Major funding bodies like CSIR, UGC, DST, DBT, and ICAR in India have formulated OA policies and mandated authors to make research outcomes of publicly funded research OA. The present study’s results will aid policymakers in realizing the difficulty associated with OA adoption, contributing to policy formulation and implementation nationwide.

A tradition of open, academy-owned, and non-profit research infrastructure in Latin America

In this paper, we offer an overview of Latin America’s current scientific information infrastructure, highlighting its key role in the adoption of Open Access and Open Science in the region. Some of the most relevant open research information infrastructures are presented, and we discuss the importance of institutional, national, and regional open-access repositories, and journals’ portals on the development of a pioneering collaborative and academy-owned regional infrastructure. Although very successful and well-established, these infrastructures need to be strengthened and supported by national governmental agencies, and regional collaboration.

Measuring the prevalence of open access in Canada: A national comparison

For two decades, open access (OA) has gained momentum worldwide. However, adoption of OA in Canada is lagging compared with other countries. Using data from Dimensions and Érudit, this paper provides an overview of OA dissemination in Canada, focusing on the effect of institutions, language, and funding. Papers in French, and from Quebec universities, are more likely to be OA, while papers from engineering-oriented institutions are less likely to be OA. Regarding funders, those in health sciences have higher OA compliance. The paper concludes discussing disciplinary differences in OA dissemination, low compliance to OA mandates in Canada, and the role of Érudit.

Adoption of open access in social science journals: An analytical study of DOAJ

The present study is based on data taken from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), which is the recognized database of fully open access peer-reviewed scholarly journals. The objective of the study has been to explore through a quantitative approach, the inclusion of Library & Information Science (LIS), Sociology, Political Science, History, and Geography journals from various perspectives. It is found that there are 177 LIS journals, 198 Sociology Journals, 123 Political Science Journals, 232 History Journals and 206 Geography Journals indexed in DOAJ published from 65 countries in 41 different languages. English is the dominant language of publication for 604 journals. On the basis of the total journals published in DOAJ of select Journals of the Social Sciences Brazil is ranked 1 with 157 Journals followed by Spain (104). Only one Journal of LIS is covered by DOAJ. The maximum number of Journals used CC BY licensing i.e., 361. The study found that the year 2017 and 2020 can be marked as most significant years because the highest number of (135 each) journals were added in DOAJ. Many journals do not charge article processing charges and most of the journals did not fulfill the guidelines for the DOAJ Seal and also discuss about different types of peer review.

Public health emergency preparedness and response in South Africa: A review of recommendations for legal reform relating to data and biological sample sharing

COVID-19 exposed flaws in the law regulating the sharing of data and human biological material (HBM). This poses obstacles to the epidemic response, which needs accelerated public health research and, in turn, efficient and legitimate HBM and data sharing. Legal reform and development are needed to ensure that HBM and data are shared efficiently and lawfully. Academics have suggested important legal reforms. The first is the clarification of the susceptibility of HBM and HBM derivatives to ownership, including, inter alia, the promulgation of a revised version of the South African Material Transfer Agreement (SA MTA) by the Minister of Health. This would remove uncertainty regarding the current SA MTA’s perpetual donor ownership clause. The second is the development of data trusts, the adoption of open access to research data, and the creation of an African ‘data corridor’. This would ensure that data are protected while allowing for the efficient transfer of data between researchers for the collective good and in the interest of the public. The third is the amendment of the Space Affairs Act to extend the powers of the Council of Space Affairs to include the management of data collected through the utilisation of Earth observation and geographical information systems. This would ensure the protection of outer space data, legislating its use and sharing once it lands on Earth. The implementation of these legal reforms and developments will better prepare SA to face future epidemics from a health research perspective.

Open access in the humanities, arts and social sciences: Complex perceptions of researchers and implications for research support

Adoption of open access in the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) is a work in progress, with lower engagement in HASS than most of the natural sciences. HASS research impacts how we live, how we learn and how we see ourselves, and research institutions should encourage and enable their HASS research communities to increase the prevalence of open access research outputs. Six experienced HASS researchers at a single academic institution in Perth, Australia, were interviewed to explore their perceptions and experiences of open access, and any barriers that they had encountered. Thematic analysis was used to code the transcribed interviews, and generate themes. This study found a wide variance in the adoption of open access practices among HASS researchers. Some participants are publishing via APC-based gold open access (in DOAJ listed journals), while other participants encounter multiple barriers to sharing more of their work as open access. Confusion about aspects of open access is evident. Even among participants who support open access, some have had poor experiences of open access publishing. This research also found that some participants hold extremely complex opinions on open access, which directly influence participants’ behaviour depending on which perspective they are considering. These perspectives are: research supervisor, editorial role at journal, funding assessor and global citizen. Within HASS a diversity of behaviours exists around open access, and research institutions need to tailor their research support services around open access and scholarly publishing for different communities of researchers.

Open access uptake in Germany 2010\u20132018: adoption in a diverse research landscape

This study investigates the development of open access (OA) to journal articles from authors affiliated with German universities and non-university research institutions in the period 2010–2018. Beyond determining the overall share of openly available articles, a systematic classification of distinct categories of OA publishing allowed us to identify different patterns of adoption of OA. Taking into account the particularities of the German research landscape, variations in terms of productivity, OA uptake and approaches to OA are examined at the meso-level and possible explanations are discussed. The development of the OA uptake is analysed for the different research sectors in Germany (universities, non-university research institutes of the Helmholtz Association, Fraunhofer Society, Max Planck Society, Leibniz Association, and government research agencies). Combining several data sources (incl. Web of Science, Unpaywall, an authority file of standardised German affiliation information, the ISSN-Gold-OA 3.0 list, and OpenDOAR), the study confirms the growth of the OA share mirroring the international trend reported in related studies. We found that 45% of all considered articles during the observed period were openly available at the time of analysis. Our findings show that subject-specific repositories are the most prevalent type of OA. However, the percentages for publication in fully OA journals and OA via institutional repositories show similarly steep increases. Enabling data-driven decision-making regarding the implementation of OA in Germany at the institutional level, the results of this study furthermore can serve as a baseline to assess the impact recent transformative agreements with major publishers will likely have on scholarly communication.

Publications and Evaluations: Conducting a Baseline Assessment of Open Access Adoption and Support at an R2 University

INTRODUCTION This study reflects a mid-size university library’s first attempt to assess faculty research output to shape future scholarly communications efforts. METHODOLOGY The assessment combined a qualitative analysis of the university’s reappointment, promotion, and tenure (RPT) documents with a quantitative analysis of faculty publications recorded in Digital Measures from 2015-2019. The RPT documents were coded to determine which indicators of scholarly value were emphasized, then compared with data on where and how faculty were publishing. RESULTS Within RPT documents, peer review was frequently emphasized, but open access and predatory publishing were not mentioned. The majority of publications occurred in hybrid journals, and publishing was concentrated among only a handful of publishers, with 11 publishers responsible for 62% of faculty’s research output. OA journal publications have risen slightly in recent years but still accounted for only 20.7% of UCCS publications. However, predatory publishing was very low, accounting for less than 5% of UCCS publications. DISCUSSION More education is needed on the importance of open access and how to assess the quality of a journal. RPT criteria consistently mentioned certain indicators of scholarly quality, but these indicators were often vague and preferential to traditional publishing models. Both open access and predatory publishing remain low, and additional education may help faculty feel more confident in exploring alternative publishing models. CONCLUSION Assessing the research output of faculty and how scholarship is being evaluated within each college can help libraries to tailor their efforts to promote open access publishing. However, the lack of OA support in the RPT criteria suggests a larger cultural shift is needed to make faculty not only aware of OA, but also encouraged and supported in publishing OA.

Driving Green Open Access

Ubiquity Press was founded to catalyze and accelerate the adoption of open access. Until now we have followed the gold and diamond models, and currently support OA publication in over 700 journals, plus hundreds of book publications per year. We are now expanding our platform to fully support and drive the uptake and effectiveness of green open access also. In this presentation I will explain how we are doing this by integrating an open source repository solution with our platform. I will detail the features being added to especially enhance green OA, as part of the Advancing Hyku project with funding from Arcadia, a charitable fund of philanthropists Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, and in partnership with the University of Virginia and the British Library.

Editorial

Editorial

Open science disrupting the status quo in academic libraries: A perspective of Zimbabwe

The ever-increasing journal subscriptions have seen many universities and research institutions failing to provide access to the much-needed scholarship for propagation of research and development due to dwindling budget allocations. Hence, the adoption of open access (OA) institutional repositories (IR) by the institutions to increase access, availability and visibility of their research output to a wider readership. Institutional repository (IR) technologies have transformed the traditional academic library practice, thus upsetting the work culture of librarians. Though studies there have been studies on the impact of IRs on academic librarians elsewhere in the world, none have been done on the Zimbabwean context. This study draws from a wider study which explored utilisation of institutional repositories in Zimbabwe's public universities. The study sought to answer the question: What is the role of the academic librarian in promoting the institutional repository? The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of technology (UTAUT) informed the study, while a mixed methods approach was employed using document analysis, questionnaires and interviews to collect data from librarians in eight public universities. Findings revealed that in some instances IR responsibilities were added to existing duties for incumbent staff while in others, staff were reassigned to IR roles resulting in diverse staff categories maintaining the IRs across the universities. Recommendations for effective and efficient management of the repositories by the universities are made. The study is relevant to other academic libraries in developing countries and Africa particularly countries whose economies are crumbling.

La comunicación científica en América Latina es abierta, colaborativa y no comercial. Desafíos para las revistas

América Latina, en donde la investigación y la difusión de los resultados se financian principalmente con fondos públicos, es la región del mundo con mayor adopción del sistema de acceso abierto a los contenidos en revistas científicas. Se destacan iniciativas regionales surgidas en el ámbito académico tales como Latindex, SciELO y Redalyc, que se complementan con portales nacionales e institucionales de revistas de acceso abierto, todas ellas iniciativas colaborativas sin fines comerciales. En base a la experiencia de CLACSO en la región y a su participación en los debates internacionales sobre el futuro de las comunicaciones científicas, en este artículo se comparten reflexiones sobre algunos de los desafíos que se plantean a este modelo colaborativo de acceso abierto en América Latina. Por ejemplo: los nuevos requerimientos que surgen desde la ciencia abierta, la necesidad de contar con indicadores de acceso abierto para que los procesos de evaluación puedan valorar esa producción publicada en revistas de la región y la urgencia de fortalecer la gestión regional colaborativa del acceso abierto y sus indicadores, sin fines comerciales.

Open access mythbusting: Testing two prevailing assumptions about the effects of open access adoption

This article looks at whether there is evidence to support two prevailing assumptions about open access (OA). These assumptions are: (1) fully OA journals are inherently of poorer quality than journals supported by other business models and (2) the OA business model, that is, paying for publication, is more ‘competitive’ than the subscription journal access business model. The assumptions have been discussed in contemporary industry venues, and we have encountered them in the course of their work advising scholarly communications organizations. Our objective was to apply data analytics techniques to see if these assumptions bore scrutiny. By combining citation‐based impact scores with data from publishers’ price lists, we were able to look for relationships between business model, price, and ‘quality’ across several thousands of journals. We found no evidence suggesting that OA journals suffer significant quality issues compared with non‐OA journals. Furthermore, authors do not appear to ‘shop around’ based on OA price.

Scholarly Communication Practices in Humanities and Social Sciences: A Study of Researchers’ Attitudes and Awareness of Open Access

Abstract This paper examines issues relating to the perceptions and adoption of open access (OA) and institutional repositories. Using a survey research design, we collected data from academics and other researchers in the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) at a university in Australia. We looked at factors influencing choice of publishers and journal outlets, as well as the use of social media and nontraditional channels for scholarly communication. We used an online questionnaire to collect data and used descriptive statistics to analyse the data. Our findings suggest that researchers are highly influenced by traditional measures of quality, such as journal impact factor, and are less concerned with making their work more findable and promoting it through social media. This highlights a disconnect between researchers’ desired outcomes and the efforts that they put in toward the same. Our findings also suggest that institutional policies have the potential to increase OA awareness and adoption. This study contributes to the growing literature on scholarly communication by offering evidence from the HASS field, where limited studies have been conducted. Based on the findings, we recommend that academic librarians engage with faculty through outreach and workshops to change perceptions of OA and the institutional repository.

The varieties of OA resistance: a response to Gareth J Johnson

In a recent Insights article, Gareth J Johnson reports on research designed to determine the reasons that so many authors still fail to embrace open access (OA) publishing, despite many years of advocacy on the part of a dedicated community of OA practitioners. To answer this question, Johnson interviewed OA practitioners at 81 UK universities, seeking their insights into the attitudes of academic authors. In response to Johnson’s findings, this paper proposes three categories of authorial resistance, questions the effectiveness of asking third parties to interpret the thinking of authors (particularly when those third parties have a vested interest in the authors’ adoption of OA) and critiques some of the assumptions underlying the informants’ reports (most importantly, the assumption that resistance arises necessarily from misunderstanding or misinformation).

Cultural, ideological and practical barriers to open access adoption within the UK Academy: an ethnographically framed examination

This article presents the results of part of an ethnographic study which examined the perceptions, development and conceptions of open access (OA) practice across the UK higher education environment. It details a qualitative semi-structured interview data capture approach with many institutionally based OA practitioners, which provided a narrative picture of academic and institutional responses to emerging OA dissemination paradigms. Through an analytical process incorporating qualitative content analysis and ideological critique, it focuses on practitioner perceptions of the types and configuration of barriers between scholars and a greater cultural adoption of OA practices. While the greatest problems perceived relate to academic intellectual disengagement or indifference to publishing praxis change, no singular cause of resistance was identified. The study reveals practitioners’ perceptions of a multiplicity of operational, technological and ideological barriers blocking progress, and consequently a picture of academic engagement remaining disappointingly patchy. Moreover, moves to increase scholarly compliance through allying it to modalities of fiscal income and metrics, while potentially enhancing practical compliance, appear to risk distorting any revolutionary configuration of OA practices.