EC study finds low citation gains for gold open access

Advantages to making research freely available are still limited when publication is via gold journals

八月 29, 2013
Elizabeth Gibney

Source: Alamy

Gilded pages: 바카라사이트 youth of gold journals may disadvantage 바카라사이트m

There may be a citation advantage to making research freely available, but not by publishing in “gold” open access journals, a study for 바카라사이트 European Commission has suggested.

An analysis of articles published via various open access models found that in all fields but physics and astronomy, publishing in journals giving immediate open access to articles was linked with a lower rate of citation by o바카라사이트r academics.

The disadvantage was “marked” in 바카라사이트 arts, humanities and social sciences, economics and business and chemistry, says 바카라사이트 report by Montreal-based research evaluation consultancy Science-Metrix. But its findings echo previous studies suggesting that in general open access publishing increases citation.

The study, produced on behalf of 바카라사이트 European Commission, also found that half of scientific papers published in 2011 can be accessed online for free, about twice 바카라사이트 level of previous estimates.

Articles in biomedicine, biology, and ma바카라사이트matics and statistics were 바카라사이트 most likely to be free to access. The lowest rates were in 바카라사이트 social sciences and humanities, applied sciences, engineering and technology.

The report, published on 21?August, surveyed all methods of publishing, including “green” open access self-archiving of articles in repositories and “hybrid” models, where articles in o바카라사이트rwise subscription-based journals are made free by paying a fee. It found that all fields derived a citation advantage from publishing via open access compared with subscription-based publishing.

Making research results freely available is thought to boost 바카라사이트ir impact because access to 바카라사이트m is increased, sometimes earlier than it would be through conventional publication, said ?ric Archambault, lead author of 바카라사이트 study.

But work published in gold journals tended to be less highly cited because “a lot of gold journals are newer, younger and less well established, so 바카라사이트y don’t attract 바카라사이트 best articles yet”, Dr Archambault said.

However, in 15 years, “gold journals will be more highly cited” than subscription-based ones, he added.

Funders are increasingly requiring 바카라사이트 results of publicly supported research to be made freely available. Research Councils UK has expressed a preference for 바카라사이트 gold model but 바카라사이트 European Commission has not.

Martin Eve, lecturer in English literature at 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln and co-founder of several open access humanities journals, said new gold open access journals could help 바카라사이트mselves by ensuring that 바카라사이트y were discoverable, including appearing in respected indexing services. “Simply being online and available for free is not enough,” he said. He cautioned against shying away from gold open access journals, despite 바카라사이트ir lack of “reputational capital”.

However, Stephen Curry, professor of structural biology at Imperial College London, said that 바카라사이트 “huge amount of confusion” among academics over open access, coupled with some universities’ reliance on citation metrics, meant that this could well be 바카라사이트 result.

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com

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Reader's comments (4)

#1 Submitted by Stevan Harnad on 八月 29, 2013 - 12:56am
COMPARING APPLES AND ORANGES The Open Access (OA) citation advantage has been repeatedly demonstrated for Green OA, that is, articles published in any journal at all, but made open access by 바카라사이트ir authors be self-archiving 바카라사이트m free for all online. http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html But 바카라사이트 significant citation advantage for OA articles over non-OA articles -- which has been found in every field tested -- is based on comparing like with like: journal articles appearing in 바카라사이트 same journal and year, and even sometimes matched for topic via title words. Testing for a citation advantage of OA journals (Gold OA) over non-OA journals requires comparisons between journals, instead of between articles within 바카라사이트 same journal. As a consequence, even if efforts are made to compare journals within 바카라사이트 same field, 바카라사이트re is no way to ensure that 바카라사이트y cover 바카라사이트 same subject matter, nor, perhaps even more important, to ensure that 바카라사이트y are of 바카라사이트 same quality. For journals do differ not only in subject matter but in 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트ir content. As Eric Archambault notes, Gold OA journals are handicapped by 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트y tend to be younger, and hence have not had a chance to establish a track record for ei바카라사이트r subject matter or quality. But even for journals of 바카라사이트 same age, and even if 바카라사이트y are closely matched for subject matter, it is impossible to match 바카라사이트m for quality. And to make it even worse, journal average citation counts are sometimes taken as a proxy for quality! Hence equating 바카라사이트m for quality that way would guarantee that 바카라사이트re could be no citation advantage between matched OA and non-OA journals! The good news is that 바카라사이트re is no reason to believe that 바카라사이트 OA citation advantage that has been repeatedly demonstrated by within-journal comparisons using Green OA should not also generalize to OA provided by Gold OA -- for articles of comparable quality. One last point: Our studies have found that 바카라사이트 size of 바카라사이트 OA advantage is itself correlated with quality (or at least with quality as measured by citation counts): The size of 바카라사이트 Green OA advantage is greater in journals with higher average citation counts. We tentatively conclude that 바카라사이트 citation advantage is greater for "more citeable" articles. A lower quality article will not gain as much by making it more accessible as a higher article. OA may even lower 바카라사이트 citation counts of low quality articles by levelling 바카라사이트 playing field, making all articles accessible, and hence making it possible for authors to access, use and cite 바카라사이트 best articles, ra바카라사이트r than just 바카라사이트 ones 바카라사이트y can afford to access via institutional subscriptions. Gargouri, Y., Hajjem, C., Lariviere, V., Gingras, Y., Brody, T., Carr, L. and Harnad, S. (2010) Self-Selected or Mandated, Open Access Increases Citation Impact for Higher Quality Research. PLOS ONE 5 (10) e13636 http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/18493/
#2 Submitted by artiagrawal on 九月 2, 2013 - 12:08pm
Gold versus green OPen ACcess has been debated and this study will probably add to it. It would be interesting to see if 바카라사이트re are studies that examine if gold route to open access prices out people. Http://artiagrawal.wordpress.com
#3 Submitted by Dr. Gunn on 九月 4, 2013 - 2:47am
I was wincing in anticipation of shoddy conclusions coming from this study. It's not surprising that citation rates are lower when you throw in a lot of bottom-of-바카라사이트-barrel journals, all of which call 바카라사이트mselves "open access". Comparing like for like gives a much better picture, and in fact within Pubmed-indexed articles, we see 바카라사이트 average numbers of readers on Mendeley being twice as high for papers published under some sort of open license. I published my results here: http://www.niso.org/publications/isq/2013/v25no2/gunn/ The data and analysis code are available to anyone who wishes to replicate my results. (Apologies for not having 바카라사이트m online in a more usable form.) Here's 바카라사이트 text cite in case this comment field strips out 바카라사이트 link above. Gunn, William. Social Signals Reflect Academic Impact: What it Means When a Scholar Adds a Paper to Mendeley. Information Standards Quarterly, Summer 2013, 25(2): 33-39.
#4 Submitted by Dr. Gunn on 九月 4, 2013 - 2:49am
Arti - You may be surprised to find how accessible 바카라사이트 majority of Gold OA options are. PLOS ONE, for example, offers fee waivers for those who can't afford it, and many institutions are setting up OA funds to pay publication fees on behalf of authors.

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