scholarly journals The persistence of open access electronic journals

2016 ◽  
Vol 117 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 746-755
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Electronic Journals ◽  
Microsoft Excel ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Visual Basic For Applications ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
Current Availability ◽  
Specific Discipline ◽  
Initial Results

Purpose Open access (OA) electronic journals have been identified as potentially at risk of loss without more coordinated preservation efforts. The purpose of this paper is to test the current availability of OA electronic journals indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Design/methodology/approach Using publicly available journal metadata downloaded from DOAJ, individual journal URLs were tested for validity and accessibility using a Microsoft Excel Visual Basic for Applications macro. Findings Initial results showed 69.51 per cent of the URLs tested returned a successful HTTP status code. The remainder of the URLs returned codes that indicated redirection or errors. Originality/value Unlike past studies of link decay, this is not limited to cited references or a specific discipline. This study uses the full DOAJ metadata to analyze the persistence of OA electronic journals.

scholarly journals Open access and document supply

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Schöpfel
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Legal Compliance ◽  
Interlibrary Loan ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an overview and update of what one actually knows about the impact of open access on inter-lending and document supply. Design/methodology/approach – A review of recent papers, published after the Berlin Declaration on Open Access in 2003. Findings – Everything seems to oppose document supply and open access. Open access has contributed to the recent decline of interlibrary loan (ILL) and document supply requests but is not the only reason and probably not the most important. Open repositories and open-access journals have the potential to substitute ILL and document supply; yet for different reasons, including legal compliance, this substitution remains of limited interest. ILL and document supply institutions have started to integrate open access into their workflow and service provision in different ways, and the paper provides a conceptual framework with some perspectives for further service development. Originality/value – Paradoxically, relatively few papers make the link between open access and document supply, with empirical and/or conceptual elements. This paper proposes a synthesis and opens perspectives for future development and research.

Status and quality of open access journals in Scopus

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 155-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammadamin Erfanmanesh
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Health Profession ◽  
Average Quality ◽  
Scholarly Journals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Open Access Journals

Purpose This study aims to provide an extensive overview of OA journals’ status and quality in 27 research areas based on all Scopus-indexed journals. It shows the volume of OA journals, proportion of publications in OA journals and the quality of these journals in comparison with subscription-based counterparts. Design/methodology/approach This research investigated 22,256 active peer-reviewed journals indexed by Scopus in 2015. Data were gathered using the Journal Metrics website. The current research adopted four indicators to compare the quality of OA and non-OA journals indexed in Scopus under each subject area, namely citedness rate, CiteScore, SNIP and SJR. Findings OA journals comprised approximately 17 per cent out of the total journals indexed by Scopus in 2015. The results revealed an uneven spread of OA journals across disciplines, ranged from 5.5 to 28.7 per cent. Studying the quality of journals as measured by CiteScore, SJR SNIP leads us to the finding that, in all research areas, except for health profession and nursing, non-OA journals attain statistically significant higher average quality than do OA journals. Originality/value Although OA publishing improves the visibility of scholarly journals, this increase is not always coupled with increase in journals’ impact and quality.

Perceptions, preferences of scholarly publishing in Open Access journals

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Bosah ◽  
Chuma Clement Okeji ◽  
Ebikabowei Emmanuel Baro
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Internet Connectivity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to know the various factors librarians consider while selecting Open Access (OA) journal for publication and to identify the challenges librarians face with OA journal publishing. Design/methodology/approachOnline questionnaire was designed to collect data from 402 academic librarians in 87 universities in Africa using SurveyMonkey software. FindingsThe study found that academic librarians are aware of the “green” and “gold” routes but not familiar with the “diamond” route. The study revealed that a large number of the academic librarians have published only one paper in OA journals, followed by those who have not published any paper in OA journals. The study also revealed that reputation of journal and impact factor of journal were seen as very important among the factors that inform them of choosing OA. The majority of the respondents agreed that author fees, and lack of stable internet connectivity are the major barriers to publishing in OA journals. Practical implicationsThe study recommends that academic libraries in institutions of higher learning in Africa should organize seminars periodically on the need for their librarians to research and publish in OA journals. Social implicationsIdentifying factors involved in author decisions to publish in OA journals will help illuminate issues that may encourage or discourage author support of OA publishing models. Further understanding of these issues can assist the efforts to improve author perceptions of and confidence in OA publications. Originality/valueIt is believed that this study of African librarians publishing in OA journals is the first study in the region.

A review of the open-access scenario in Afghanistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 660-668
Author(s):  
Vrushali Sainath Dandawate ◽  
Dhanamjaya M.
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
The Pacific

Purpose Open access movement is getting increased in Asia and the Pacific and has been started in the form of subject gateways, informal collections of articles on web pages and directories. Many Asian countries adopted the transition to Open Access journals and full-text repositories and digital libraries. Open access also helps to underprivilege countries to spread their research output. But third-world Islamic countries are far away from open access and its implementations. The purpose of this paper is to focus on open-access e-resource development in Afghanistan. Design/methodology/approach The data were complemented by documentary analysis, and information retrieved from open-access databases like DOAR, DOAJ and OER Sites. Findings The paper provides information about open-access development in Afghanistan and also focuses on the challenges for spreading OA awareness in Afghanistan. It suggests that how local people and universities can help to spread open-access movement. Social implications This paper gives an idea about the educational system and other resources available in Afghanistan. Originality/value This paper fulfills an identified need to study open-access development and status in Afghanistan.

Open access to scientific information: comparative study in DOAJ

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 364-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Stoyanova Trencheva ◽  
Tania Yordanova Todorova
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
Global Movement ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Important Position ◽  
The Moment

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to provide a comparative retrospective analysis of Bulgarian, Turkish and Croatian Open Access (OA) journals added in Directory of Open Access journals (DOAJ) in the period 2002-2013. Design/methodology/approach – First of all, the study is focussed on brief review of definitions and descriptions of the OA as a global movement. In the study were analyzed the three main OA initiatives and was shown the difference between Golden Road and Green Road. Second of all, the authors used the comparative approach and made a comparative study of the OA journals in Bulgaria, Turkey and Croatia and present the evaluation results and findings. Findings – Qualitative and quantitative data for the study are collected by the DOAJ. The data are analyzed in terms of quantity and period, and the results are presented graphically and tabular and finally there are made major specific conclusions and recommendations. Originality/value – The paper shows that OA in the digital space has an important position in scientific research. There are many discussion issues related to the problems of OA, but overall study of OA to scientific information, and in particular comparative study of Bulgarian, Turkish and Croatian journals in the DOAJ does not exist at the moment.

The future of open access and library publishing

2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 225-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faye Chadwell ◽  
Shan C. Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Communication System ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Scholarly Communication ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Scholarly Communication System

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide a vision for how academic libraries can assume a more central role in a future where open access (OA) publishing has become the predominant model for disseminating scholarly research articles. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyze existing trends related to OA policies and publishing, with an emphasis on the development of repositories managed by libraries to publish and disseminate articles. They speculate that these trends, coupled with emerging economic realities, will create an environment where libraries will assume a major role in the OA publishing environment. The authors provide some suggestions for how this major role might be funded. Findings – The trends and economic realities discussed will lead to new roles for academic librarians and will change the existing roles. Originality/value – This article provides insights for academic libraries and their institutions to consider a dramatic shift in the deployment of subscription dollars from a dysfunctional and largely closed scholarly communication system to one that provides open, unfettered access to research results.

Visibility and growth of LIS research publications: a Scopus based analysis of select open access journals during 2001 to 2015

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Nilaranjan Barik ◽  
Puspanjali Jena
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Citation Impact ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Search Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Underdeveloped Countries ◽  
Research Publications ◽  
Open Access Journals ◽  
Scopus Database

Purpose This study aims to establish an idea on visibility and growth of research publications of select Library and Information Science (LIS) open access journals indexed in Scopus database during the period 2001-2015. Design/methodology/approach The study covers its scope to the research publications published during the period 2001-2015. All retrieved data were analyzed using bibliometric methods. The data of the select journals were searched in Scopus database using the name of the journal as search term in source of the database. Findings The results of the study reveal that visibility of LIS research articles in country based, university/ institution based, types of document based, authors based and citation based is significant. Authors from 83 countries and 990 universities/ institutions across the world have published their research in such LIS open access journals. The American and European countries are the leaders among all contributing countries and “Article” is the most popular types of documents with 61.37 per cent publications. The citation impact of publications shows an average 8.08 citations per publication. Originality/value The study raises concern on the global visibility of LIS research publications. Authors from underdeveloped countries do not prefer to publish their publications in open channel. Also government and other research bodies of these countries do not give proper weightage to the publications in open access journals. So, the study intends to assess the visibility of LIS research publications and their growth pattern.

Evolving landscape of scholarly journals in open access environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 550-567
Author(s):  
Sumeer Gul ◽  
Sangita Gupta ◽  
Tariq Ahmad Shah ◽  
Nahida Tun Nisa ◽  
Shazia Manzoor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Peer Review Process ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
High Income ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Finnish Meteorological Institute ◽  
Open Access Journals

Purpose Open access journals (OAJs) offer immediate, free and unrestricted online access to the scholarly literature. The purpose of this study is to trace the status and characteristics of OAJs published across the globe. Various trends that have evolved in OAJ market have been studied. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on data collected from one of the largest OA journal directory – Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The data were downloaded on 02 January 2018 and details of OAJs added to DOAJ till 31 December 2018 were harvested, codified and further analyzed in SPSS software. A Microsoft-Excel template application – MAKESENS – developed by Finnish Meteorological Institute (Finland) in 2002, was explored to perform Mann–Kendall Test and Sen’s Slope Estimates. Findings A less score of OAJs offer access to their archival content. An increasing trend is witnessed in the OAJ publishing with Elsevier, Sciendo and BioMed Central (BMC) as the top publishers. Majority of publishers are from high-income zone countries, followed by upper-middle and lower-middle zone countries. Majority of OA publishers are from the UK, Indonesia and Brazil. A lesser score of journals offer article processing charges and/or author submission charges. Majority of OAJs from high- and lower-middle-income zone countries levy submission/processing charge to authors compared to OA journals from upper-middle- and lower-income zone countries (p < 0.01). OJS stays a prioritized platform for hosting OA journal content. Portico and CLOCKSS/LOCKSS are mostly used for long-term preservation purposes. Majority of OAJs from high-income zone countries participate in digital arching initiatives compared to ones from other income zones. Majority of the journals adopt a peer review (double-blind peer review, blind peer review, peer review and open peer review) process for validation of their scholarly content. The time lag between submission and publication ranges from one to 53 weeks, with majority of OAJs having a time lag of 11-20 weeks. Creative Commons Licenses are mainly adopted by OAJs. Research limitations/implications As the study is based on the data offered by DOAJ, any gaps in the DOAJ data will also get reflected in the study. Further, there might be other OAJs also that have yet to show compliance with DOAJ standards and get indexed with it. Originality/value The study tries to showcase the current status and characteristics of OAJs.

Use of e‐journals among research scholars at Central Science Library, University of Delhi

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.M. Naushad Ali ◽  
Faizul Nisha
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Search Method ◽  
State Universities ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Electronic Journals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Of Use ◽  
The University ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which research scholars at Central Science Library, University of Delhi are aware and make use of e‐journals.Design/methodology/approachA survey was designed to collect basic information about the level of use of electronic journals as well as other factors contributing to and associated with their use. A well‐structured questionnaire was administered among research scholars to collect the necessary primary data, keeping in view the objectives of the study.FindingsThe findings clearly reveal that more than 60 per cent of users in the Central Science Library are using e‐journals weekly for the purpose of research. Printed journals are consulted by the majority of users compared with e‐journals. Keyword is the most popular search method for searching e‐journals among research scholars, whereas the date of publication carries the least percentage among all the options. However, if is found that slow downloading of PDF files is the major problem that would discourage users while using e‐journals.Research limitations/implicationsThe present paper consists only of e‐journal users and the geographical area is restricted to the CSL at the University of Delhi. The scope of the paper could be extended to additional centrally funded universities. An intra‐comparative study could also be made between some select central and state universities for users of e‐journals.Originality/valueThere are a number of studies on the use of e‐journals, but this is the first of its kind within Delhi University. As such, it should pave the way for research in other Indian universities as well as elsewhere.

scholarly journals “The ability to get a job”: student understandings and definitions of employability

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 406-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Gedye ◽  
Emily Beaumont
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sport Science ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
Discipline Area ◽  
Specific Discipline

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore employability in the context of higher education (HE) from the students’ perspective. Limited attention has been paid to student understandings of their own employability in a Sport Science context and Tymon (2011) refers to them as “the missing perspective”. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents the findings of a study of Marine Sports Science students (n=63) at a post-1992 HE institution which through the qualitative element of a mixed methods survey explored their changing articulations of their employability as they progressed through their studies. The students surveyed were in receipt of a comprehensive programme of enterprise and employability activities embedded within their programme. Findings Qualitative results showed that Marine Sport Science students’ articulations of employability expanded in vocabulary as the students progressed through their studies. Definitions also shifted from those that centred on what employers want (extrinsic) to what the student had to offer the employer (intrinsic). Originality/value There are very few examples of studies that explore employability from the students’ perspective and this paper adds understanding on this “missing perspective”. It also addresses a specific discipline area; Marine Sport Science, which has yet to feature in any literature on employability.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document