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This study aims to summarise the information about open access publishing models and to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to summarise the information about open access publishing models and to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a review of the academic literature, to conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis and adopt the multiple case study approach to analyse the open access publishing model.
Findings
Useful results include the findings that the success factors of open access business models are: creating savings in publishing costs, increasing incomes, adoption of innovative technologies and controlling the quality of journals. The open access publishing model makes the research permanently visible and accessible, with sustainable development.
Research limitations/implications
While the findings may be applicable to open access journals for reasons other than impact factor, further research would be required to confirm this.
Originality/value
This study provides results that may enhance one's understanding of the open access publishing model, allowing both the reader and the author to benefit from it. Open access publishing leads to wider dissemination of information and greater advances in science.
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Lu Xiao and Nicole Askin
The purpose of this paper is to examine academics’ awareness of and attitudes towards Wikipedia and Open Access journals for academic publishing to better understand the perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine academics’ awareness of and attitudes towards Wikipedia and Open Access journals for academic publishing to better understand the perceived benefits and challenges of these models.
Design/methodology/approach
Bases for analysis include comparison of the models, enumeration of their advantages and disadvantages, and investigation of Wikipedia's web structure in terms of potential for academic publishing. A web survey was administered via department-based invitations and listservs.
Findings
The survey results show that: Wikipedia has perceived advantages and challenges in comparison to the Open Access model; the academic researchers’ increased familiarity is associated with increased comfort with these models; and the academic researchers’ attitudes towards these models are associated with their familiarity, academic environment, and professional status.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation of the study is sample size. The result of a power analysis with GPower shows that authors could only detect big effects in this study at statistical power 0.95. The authors call for larger sample studies that look further into this topic.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the increasing interest in adjusting methods of creating and disseminating academic knowledge by providing empirical evidence of the academics’ experiences and attitudes towards the Open Access and Wikipedia publishing models. This paper provides a resource for researchers interested in scholarly communication and academic publishing, for research librarians, and for the academic community in general.
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Assimina Vlachaki and Christine Urquhart
The purpose of this research project is to explore the impact of open access initiatives on biomedical research scientific publishing and scholarly communication in Greece.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research project is to explore the impact of open access initiatives on biomedical research scientific publishing and scholarly communication in Greece.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the preliminary findings from a longitudinal study that uses bibliometrics, questionnaire surveys and interviews to examine knowledge, awareness and attitudes towards open access.
Findings
Open access models vary considerably. The bibliometric research indicates that Greek biomedical publication is increasing, but that coverage of Greek medical journals in databases such as MEDLINE is decreasing. The picture is mixed with some evidence of open access journals (published in English) from Greek publishing bases. Awareness of open access among Greek biomedical scientists in date was comparatively low (58 per cent aware, n=70).
Research limitations/implications
Several Greek medical journals are published in English, and it is difficult to track the authorship for Greek researchers publishing in English language journals published elsewhere. Findings are preliminary as this is a longitudinal survey.
Social implications
Open access initiatives may privilege researchers from the English speaking world – or those in low income countries. Researchers from countries not in those categories may face unrecognised disadvantages in making their research visible.
Originality/value
This is the only study of Greek biomedical publishing, and comparisons are being made with similar studies of Spanish biomedical publishing.
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This paper aims to bring together information on whether any evidence exists of a commercial conflict between the creation of digital archives at research institutions and by key…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to bring together information on whether any evidence exists of a commercial conflict between the creation of digital archives at research institutions and by key subject centres of excellence, and the business of journal publishing.
Design/methodology/approach
Relevant publications, including articles published in refereed books and journals, as well as informal commentaries on listservs, blogs and wikis, were analysed to determine whether there is any evidence of a commercial relationship.
Findings
Most of the published comments are highly subjective and anecdotal – there is a significant emotional overtone to many of the views expressed. There is precious little hard evidence currently available to support or debunk the idea that a commercial conflict exists between repositories and journal subscriptions. The situation is made more difficult by the many technological, sociological and administrative changes that are taking place in parallel to the establishment of repositories.
Practical implications
Separating the key drivers and their impact is a major strategic challenge facing all stakeholders in the scholarly communication industry in future.
Research limitations/implications
This is an important area which requires close monitoring – the possible threat that the established journal publishing system could be eroded away by a new “free” scholarly information system needs attention. One significant study in this area is being undertaken by the PEER group, funded by the European Commission with hard evidence being collected by UCL's CIBER research group. The results from this impartial investigation will be very welcome.
Originality/value
The paper shows that relationship between repositories and journal subscriptions is vague.
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Surendra Kumar Sahu and Satish Kumar Arya
The open access movement has become the center of discussion during the last decade. Open access publishing facilitates researchers' and scientists' access to research literature…
Abstract
Purpose
The open access movement has become the center of discussion during the last decade. Open access publishing facilitates researchers' and scientists' access to research literature through the internet free of cost. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the awareness of open access publishing among researchers and faculty members of Indian institutions, and to evaluate the development of open access initiatives in India.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on both primary and secondary sources of data. For studying awareness of open access publishing, a survey was conducted among the researchers of IITs and IIMs in July‐August 2012 by using a closed ended questionnaire. The growth of open access initiatives in India is analyzed through data collected from secondary sources, i.e. the websites of Ulrich's, DOAJ, ROAR, and OpenDOAR.
Findings
The results showed that India's contribution has increased in the last few years. It was found that the awareness about such open access information sources and initiatives among the research community is increasing.
Originality/value
This study will assist in understanding the practices of open access publishing in India.
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Ishfaq Ahmad Palla, Arslan Sheikh and Abdul Baquee
Open access is a new scholarly publishing model that has appeared in place of the commercial publishing model. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of awareness, use…
Abstract
Purpose
Open access is a new scholarly publishing model that has appeared in place of the commercial publishing model. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of awareness, use and attitudes of the Indian students in higher educational institutions about scholarly open access.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey method was used in the study. The sample population of the study was 212 Indian students belonging to different higher educational institutions in India.
Findings
The results of the study reveal a gloomy picture about the open access (OA) awareness and use among Indian students. Unfamiliarity with the OA journals and high publication fee were the main obstacles for the students not to publish in OA journals. However, a majority of the students reported their willingness to publish in OA journals in future if the obstacles are removed. A very meager ratio of the respondents had published in OA journals so far. In addition, motivational factors for publishing in OA journals were also taken into consideration, and respondent's indicated winning research grants, great impact and higher citations as main factors to publish in OA journals.
Research limitations/implications
This study is geographically limited to the students of the higher educational institutions located in India.
Practical implications
This study will help to understand the involvement and behavior of the Indian students toward scholarly open access. The study will also guide what measures need to be taken in the take up of open access movement.
Originality/value
Institutional repositories appeared to be relatively a novel term for the respondents, and in order to get the citation advantages and higher visibility, librarians can make an effort to persuade students to publish their research work in open access journals and institutional/subject repositories. The study recommends that institutions need to take appropriate measures to inform students about the importance and overall benefits associated with using of OA platforms in their scholarly work.
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Lu Xiao and Nicole Askin
The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of Wikipedia as a venue for academic publishing.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of Wikipedia as a venue for academic publishing.
Design/methodology/approach
By looking at other sources and studying Wikipedia structures, the paper compares the processes of publishing a peer‐reviewed article in Wikipedia and the open access journal model, discusses the advantages and challenges of adopting Wikipedia in academic publishing, and provides suggestions on how to address the challenges.
Findings
Compared to an open access journal model, Wikipedia has several advantages for academic publishing: it is less expensive, quicker, more widely read, and offers a wider variety of articles. There are also several major challenges in adopting Wikipedia in the academic community: the web site structure is not well suited to academic publications; the site is not integrated with common academic search engines such as Google Scholar or with university libraries; and there are concerns among some members of the academic community about the site's credibility and impact in academia.
Originality/value
This paper promotes a fundamental idea for adjusting methods of creating and disseminating academic knowledge. It is a valuable resource for those interested in academic innovation, for research librarians, and for the academic community in general. This topic has not been sufficiently addressed in the literature.
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Ebikabowei Emmanuel Baro and Monica Eberechukwu Eze
The purpose of this study is to know the various factors librarians consider while selecting open access (OA) journal for publication, and to know the challenges librarians face…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to know the various factors librarians consider while selecting open access (OA) journal for publication, and to know the challenges librarians face with OA journal publishing.
Design/methodology/approach
Online questionnaire was designed to collect data using SurveyMonkey software from 335 academic librarians in 57 institutions (Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education) in Nigeria.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that majority of the academic librarians are aware of the gold and green publishing routes, while the majority of academic librarians are not aware of the diamond publishing route. The study also revealed that when considering where to publish, reputation and impact factor of journal were rated as very important among the factors that inform their choice of OA. The study further revealed that academic librarians have little or no knowledge about the existence of institutional repositories in their institutions, and only a few actual use institutional repositories and ResearchGate to self-archive their publications. The majority of the academic librarians agreed that author fees (Article Processing Charges) and low impact factor of journal are barriers to publishing in OA journals. Training on OA publishing is recommended for librarians to increase their knowledge and confidence to discuss OA with faculty members in future.
Practical implications
Knowledge of authors’ attitude toward OA publishing models will help OA advocates focus on the factors that are meaningful that are raised in this study.
Originality/value
The study is an original research work that investigated academic librarians’ perception and engagement with OA publishing as they lead the OA campaign in their institutions.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of the SCOAP3 model, aiming to achieve a transition of peer‐reviewed literature of an entire field, high‐energy physics to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of the SCOAP3 model, aiming to achieve a transition of peer‐reviewed literature of an entire field, high‐energy physics to open access.
Design/methodology/approach
An historical survey of publishing patterns in high‐energy physics puts open access in that discipline in context. A detailed, quantitative study of the publishing landscape in high‐energy physics is discussed, providing the economic basis for the SCOAP3 model.
Findings
The yearly publication output of high‐energy physics is concentrated on six journals by four publishers. This relatively compact publication landscape and the historical cohesion of the community make a transition of the entire field to open access feasible.
Research limitations/implications
The results relate to a very specific field with a high potential for migration to open access. In open access there is no “one‐size‐fits‐all” solution, and other fields have to proceed to similar analyses to identify their most convenient model on the road to open access journals.
Practical implications
The SCOAP3 initiative seems to be a sustainable way for a transition to open access of scientific publishing of an entire discipline. It could serve as an example, and an experiment, in the search for viable business models for open access.
Originality/value
The paper provides an insight into the design of a business model for open access around the particular needs and publication landscape of a particular discipline.
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To provide an overview of the growing international movement of librarians, faculty members, and researchers who are working together to develop new methods of scholarly…
Abstract
Purpose
To provide an overview of the growing international movement of librarians, faculty members, and researchers who are working together to develop new methods of scholarly communication, including Open Access (OA) journals, digital e‐print archives, and institutional repositories, and to press for public access to federally funded research.
Design/methodology/approach
Key elements which have created pressures for change in the scholarly communication system are reviewed: the development and expansion of the Internet and networked technologies, and rapidly increasing journal costs due to consolidation, pricing structures and title aggregating in the commercial journal publishing industry. Effects of these pressures on libraries, citing Bowdoin College as an illustrative case, and examples of OA and affordably priced journal publishing models and OA principles and infrastructure are presented.
Findings
The OA movement has gained momentum and appears to be meeting with some success, with worldwide efforts to make federally funded research available to taxpayers and the largest science, technology and medicine journal publishers revisiting pricing structures. It is predicted that commercial journals, OA journals and digital repositories will continue to co‐exist as information resources for the scholarly community for the foreseeable future.
Research limitations/implications
This is not an exhaustive history, but rather a review of movement highlights, written by a steering committee member of SPARC, a major scholarly communication movement stakeholder.
Originality/value
A useful overview for librarians and researchers unfamiliar with the movement who wish to educate local faculty members about the implications for their publishing and professional activities, as well as for commercial publishers and scholarly presses interested in learning more about the movement.
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