scholarly journals Open Access dynamics and prospects

Author(s):  
Grzegorz Grynkiewicz ◽  
Katarzyna Filip

The www has started a new era in dissemination of scientific information, which is already to such extent propagated by electronic media that it has become practically independent from the system of subscription driven printed journals. These developments of marked increase in availability of scientific information, commonly described as Open Access, have profound consequences for functioning of all segments of scientific community and also strategically influence education systems. Generally, there are growing expectations for freely available results of publicly funded research. Open Access (OA), which is developing for ca 25 years, has generated a number of large publishers (i.e. BioMedCentral) and over 5 000 of scholarly peer reviewed journals, which can be checked in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ; https://doaj.org/). Leaving aside new types of business models which evolved in connection with widespread of electronic publishing, we will analyze the OA phenomenon from the point of view of an active life science researcher, as a reader and an author. Thus, the OA “for profit” publishing modalities, distinguished as “green route” and “gold route” will be presented as well as some extracts from ongoing debate on the economics of particular variants. Finally, the question of choice between publishing options for prospective results in getting cited, will be touched upon.

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Grynkiewicz ◽  
Katarzyna Filip

The www has started a new era in dissemination of scientific information, which is already to such extent propagated by electronic media that it has become practically independent from the system of subscription driven printed journals. These developments of marked increase in availability of scientific information, commonly described as Open Access, have profound consequences for functioning of all segments of scientific community and also strategically influence education systems. Generally, there are growing expectations for freely available results of publicly funded research. Open Access (OA), which is developing for ca 25 years, has generated a number of large publishers (i.e. BioMedCentral) and over 5 000 of scholarly peer reviewed journals, which can be checked in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ; https://doaj.org/). Leaving aside new types of business models which evolved in connection with widespread of electronic publishing, we will analyze the OA phenomenon from the point of view of an active life science researcher, as a reader and an author. Thus, the OA “for profit” publishing modalities, distinguished as “green route” and “gold route” will be presented as well as some extracts from ongoing debate on the economics of particular variants. Finally, the question of choice between publishing options for prospective results in getting cited, will be touched upon.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Kevin O’Hara

Open access models for academic publishing offer an alternative to traditional subscription-based journals. In the open access model, the author generally retains the copyright and the published articles are available free on the internet. Publication costs are either borne by the author as article processing charges, or are free for some journals published by societies or institutions. Traditional subscription-based journals are funded by subscription costs to libraries and individuals, the publisher retains the copyright, and these journals are generally not freely available to the public. This traditional model has created two problems: (1) many for-profit publishers control access in a form of oligopoly and impose high costs to subscribers; and (2) it limits access of scientific information to the public which disproportionately affects poorly funded research institutions and developing countries. Other subscription-based journals are published by scientific and professional societies but are not “for-profit”. In the forest sciences, several open access journals emerged in the last 10–15 years. These open access journals are published by for-profit publishing companies, research institutions, and professional societies. Some of these journals have been successful at attracting manuscript submissions, becoming indexed by various indexation services, and have seen metrics representing their importance increase over time. This paper documents these trends and assesses the viability of the open access model in the forest sciences and compares them to other types of journals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Siler ◽  
Koen Frenken

Open access (OA) publishing has created new academic and economic niches in contemporary science. OA journals offer numerous publication outlets with varying editorial philosophies and business models. This article analyzes the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) ( n = 12,127) to identify characteristics of OA academic journals related to the adoption of article processing charge (APC)-based business models, as well as the price points of journals that charge APCs. Journal impact factor (JIF), language, publisher mission, DOAJ Seal, economic and geographic regions of publishers, peer review duration, and journal discipline are all significantly related to the adoption and pricing of journal APCs. Even after accounting for other journal characteristics (prestige, discipline, publisher country), journals published by for-profit publishers charge the highest APCs. Journals with status endowments (JIF, DOAJ Seal) and articles written in English, published in wealthier regions, and in medical or science-based disciplines are also relatively costlier. The OA publishing market reveals insights into forces that create economic and academic value in contemporary science. Political and institutional inequalities manifest in the varying niches occupied by different OA journals and publishers.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110067
Author(s):  
Mikael Laakso ◽  
Bo-Christer Björk

The Internet has enabled efficient electronic publishing of scholarly journals and Open Access business models. Recent studies have shown that adoption of Open Access journals has been uneven across scholarly disciplines, where the business and economics disciplines in particular seem to lag behind all other fields of research. Through bibliometric analysis of journals indexed in Scopus, we find the share of articles in Open Access journals in business, management, and accounting to be only 6%. We further studied the Open Access availability of articles published during 2014–2019 in journals included in the Financial Times 50 journal list (19,969 articles in total). None of the journals are full Open Access, but 8% of the articles are individually open and for a further 35% earlier manuscript versions are available openly on the web. The results suggest that the low adoption rate of Open Access journals in the business fields is a side-effect of evaluation practices emphasizing publishing in journals included, in particular, ranking lists, creating disincentives for business model innovation, and barriers for new entrants among journals. Currently, most business school research has to be made Open Access through other ways than through full Open Access journals, and libraries play an important role in facilitating this in a sustainable way.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 364-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Stoyanova Trencheva ◽  
Tania Yordanova Todorova

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.


Author(s):  
Alan Kelly

This chapter reviews the development of the modern scientific paper, from the sixteenth century forward, and explores the ways in which scientific information has been disseminated in the past. Great scientific advances of the past are discussed in the context of how they were first published, or otherwise brought to the attention of the broader scientific community, and the modern scientific publishing sector is explored. The types and categories of scientific journals are discussed, along with an overview of current publishing trends, such as the exponential increase in number of journals, changes in the ways in which researchers access the literature, and in particular the emergence and current state of open access journals. In addition, various ways in which journals are ranked are discussed, and key trends in such lists over the last ten years or so explored.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Moustafa

Open and free access to scientific knowledge keeps scientists up to date with the latest achievements in their respective fields and to help set up appropriate solutions to health, environmental and technical issues. One of the efficient settings toward this purpose is the use of preprint servers- open repositories that allow authors to post their manuscripts ahead of formal peer review/publishing in traditional journals. The recognition of preprints as an essential part of science landscape are on the rise worldwide.In 2018, a European funder coalition, called Coalition S, has been formed and issued an open access plan, called Plan S, that requires authors of studies funded by the Coalition to publish their manuscripts- starting from January 2021- in open access journals or repositories that meet the guidelines of the Plan S. Many publishers and researchers welcomed the Plan S as a step forward to promote openness and free access to publicly funded research. To further enhance the open and free science movement, I'd propose a European preprint server called "European arXiv" (https://eurorxiv.eu) as a multidisciplinary and multilingual repository that will accept manuscripts (preprints and postprints) in the various European languages and beyond. The project is an individual initiative, but interested people are welcome to join.


Seminar.net ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yngve Nordkvelle

Seminar.net enters it’s fourth year, and has reached a state of maturity in a number of meanings: it receives manuscripts from all continents, the articles are read from 134 countries, of which India represents the highest number of readers, a number of articles have been read by more than 10 000 interested persons, and the frequency of issues is now three per year, and will reach four by next year. Interested parties now approach us in order to learn about our policies and practices.It takes time to become established and influential in the sense that articles are cited and referred to in prestigious publications. Still, the most prestigious publications are on paper. Many countries now embark on a policy that rewards researchers that publish in international journals, preferably in English. National languages are rendered less significant. In the UK, the research assessment exercise (RAE), and several other countries with a publication or citation based reward system in research, tend to favour quantitative dimensions at the expense of the quality of the publication. International publishing houses are huge profit-making companies that over years have increased their profit rates, charging increasingly economically pressured higher education institution with high subscription rates. With the advent of electronic publishing their position is severely challenged. It has been noted that the most significant publication of the last couple of decades was an electronic publication: Tim Berners Lee published the protocol for the World Wide Web in 1990. It was never refereed, nor was controlled by appointed gatekeepers of the “establishment”. The number of Open Access publications is rising every day, and the number of e-journals for academic publishing is reaching higher and higher numbers. In a recent case The Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University decided, that Harvard employees must publish all their material simultaneously on the electronic archive in their home institution. This means they should avoid publishing in articles that refuse parallel publishing. This is one of many encouraging events that might pave the way for more Open Access journals. In this issue of Seminar.net, we present four articles and a book review.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Phillips ◽  
Drew Baker ◽  
Ann Hidalgo

This article introduces the Open Access Digital Theological Library (OADTL), a new, fully open access digital library for religious studies. The OADTL, curated by professional librarians and employing OCLC's integrated library system, seeks to apply the principles of professional librarianship to make all open access content in religious studies fully discoverable to a global audience. The initial collections contain over 100,000 ebooks and over 200,000 full text, peer-reviewed, articles. The project is funded by a not-for-profit corporation, the Digital Theological Library, a 501c3 charity. Collections include recently published OA content, dissertations, public domain documents, and books from institutional repositories--as well content for Open Access journals. Much of the content is cataloged as e-content for the first time in this library. There are no fees of any kind for use.


Author(s):  
Tetiana Yaroshenko

Open Access to scientific information, transparency of research processes and data is one of the most important conditions for the progress of science and scientific communication, the basis of international collaboration of researchers globally. The COVID-19 global pandemic has once again highlighted the need for open, efficient and equal access to scientific information for researchers, regardless of geographical, gender or any other constraints, promoting the exchange of scientific knowledge and data, scientific cooperation and scientific decision-making, knowledge and open data. The Internet has radically changed scientific communication, particularly on the model of peer-reviewed scientific journals and the way readers find and access the scientific information. Digital access is now the norm, thanks to the Open Access model. Although 20 years have passed since the announcement of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, and despite many achievements and advantages, there are still obstacles to the implementation of this model, there is some resistance from commercial publishers and other providers, and discussions continue in the academia world. The Open Access model is already supported by various strategies, policies, platforms, applications but is not yet established. Various business models for scientific journals are still being tested, a culture of preprints is being formed, and discussions are underway on the ethics of scientific publications, intellectual property, the need to finance the dissemination of research results, and so on. Various platforms and applications are being developed to help researchers “discover” research results. Nevertheless, this is not enough: it is important to “discover” not only the results but also the research data, allowing them be used for further research in the global world. Thus, the concepts and practices of Open Science, Open Data, development of research infrastructures, etc., are developing quite rapidly. The article considers the main stages of this 20-year path and outlines the main components and trends of the current stage. Emphasis is placed on the need to form a culture of Open Science and create incentives for its implementation, promoting innovative methods of Open Science at different stages of the scientific process, the needs of European integration of Ukrainian e-infrastructure development, the need for socio-cultural and technological change. The main international and domestic practices and projects in Open Access and Open Science, particularly the National Repository of Academic Texts and the National Plan of Open Science draft, are considered. The role of libraries and librarians in implementing the principles of Open Access and Open Science is emphasized.


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