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The Benefits of Open AccessA Researcher’s Perspective.

Richard Pulsford

International Open Access WeekSt. Lukes Campus, University of Exeter, 25th October 2012

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Objectives

To examine the benefits of Open Access to the research process prior to publication

To examine the benefits of Open Access after publication Visibility and impact Evidence

To examine the benefits of research repositories such as ERIC

To examine the wider issue of publically funded research being publically available

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The Benefits of Open Access..

Prior to publication

Effect on quality of research

increased resources aids all aspects of the scientific method

planning, experimental design and methodology

Better practice

reduces citation bias reduces problem of ‘hollow citing’

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The Benefits of Open Access..

After publication

Visibility of research

The publication of research outputs in immediate open access journals or their availability in institutional repositories exposes then to a wider readership

Increase in interest in research

Increased citation rate

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The Benefits of Open Access..

After publication Higher citation rate

Increased availability = increased downloads= increased citations

Antelman 2004 ‘Do open-access articles have a greater research impact?’

Examined articles in four disciplines Philosophy, political science, electrical and electronic

engineering and mathematics chosen as they represent various stages of adoption of open

access

‘number of citations’ used to determine whether articles have a greater impact when their authors make them freely available

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The Benefits of Open Access..

After publication

Philosphy

Political Science

Electrical and electronic engineering

Mathematics

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

Open Access - No

Open Access - Yes

Antelman 2004

91%

51%

86%

45%

Difference in citation rate

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The Benefits of Open Access..

After publicationBut....

Is this increase in citation rate due to other confounding factors?

I. Top authors who are highly cited may be at better institutions which may be more likely to have publication repositories

II. A greater number of authors on a publication may increase both the number of citations and the likelihood of it being open access – it only takes one!

III. The benefits of OA are simply due to authors allowing free access to ‘trophy’ publications in personal or institutional repositories after their publication in non-OA journals

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The Benefits of Open Access..

After publicationEysenbach 2006

Bibliometric analysis of a cohort of OA and non-OA articles published between June and December 2004 in the same journal (PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

Controlled for potential confounding factors including, number of authors, authors’ publication history and impact, country, funding and discipline

Open access articles were twice as likely to be cited in the first 4-10 months (OR = 2.1 [1.5-2.9]) & almost 3 times as likely to be cited in the 10-16 months after publication: OR = 2.9 [1.5-5.5]

Secondary analyses showed that papers in immediate OA journals were cited more than those in non-OA journals which were made available through repositories

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The Benefits of Open Access..

After publication

Across a variety of disciplines, OA articles have a greater research impact than articles which are not freely available1

Readers find OA outputs more easily, read them more often1 and citing them earlier and more often in their own work2

This effect is evident even after controlling for confounding factors relating to authorship and institution2

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The Benefits of Open Access..

After publication

ERIC – allows searches by collection, subject, author, theme Mutual benefit due to U of E reputation for research Success within a discipline may raise profile for all rather

than just those involved

Stimulation of new research ideas Increase in access to research outputs and ideas could

stimulate new avenues of research

Collaborations Across institutions Across disciplines

Benefit to researchers, institutions and research as a whole

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The wider issue… ‘Publically funded research should be publically available’

In non-OA publication public funds are used three times in the research process3

To pay for; 1) research, 2) peer review & 3) access

RCUK and the HEFCE announced plans to ensure greater open access4

‘significant outputs from research activity are made available as widely as possible both within and beyond the research community. Open access to published research can benefit the research base, higher education, and the UK economy and society.’

OA is now advocated by many institutions & funders

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To conclude…

Open access, via immediate OA journals or depositories can benefit researchers at all stages of the research process

The main effects are an increase in resources and increased visibility and impact of research outputs

Can also stimulate interest across disciplines and institutions allowing greater collaboration

The wider issue of publicly funded research being publically available is beginning to be addressed due to support from RCUK & HCFCE and as OA increasingly becomes a mandate of the provision of funding.

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References1.Antelmann, Kirstin (2004).

Do open access articles have a greater research impact? College & Research Libraries News, 65(5), 372-382.

2.Eysenbach, Gunther (2006). Citation advantage of open access articles. PLoS Biology, 4(5).

3. RCUK & HEFCE Press release - http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/media/news/2011news/Pages/110525_1.aspx

4. Information on Funding mandates - http://open-access.org.uk/information-and-guidance/publication-policies/#5

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Thank you

Richard Pulsford

International Open Access WeekSt. Lukes Campus, University of Exeter, 25th October 2012