Search results

This paper aims to determine the outcome of the different measures taken towards open access (OA) to peer-reviewed research by measuring aggregate availability of a sample of journal articles. This sample was then used to examine the factors contributing to the availability or non-availability of types of article.

A sample of articles was taken from the Scopus database based on a search by surname. This minimised any skew that would result from a dataset based on subject or source. The results were analysed to determine availability by subject and differences in availability based on source.

Less than 30 per cent of articles are available in their year of publication, rising to nearly 40 per cent in following years. Repositories are responsible for slightly less than 50 per cent of available articles. Substantial differences exist between the practices of scholarly societies and commercial publishers.

Aggregate availability is dependent on a range of activities and current efforts need to be maintained to ensure its continuance. Moves towards OA by commercial publishers are not a major factor.

Non-affiliated researchers are able to access less than half of the peer-reviewed literature.

This study differs from similar work by looking at access from the users’ viewpoint. Rather than looking at the total amount of material to which access is provided, it looks at the proportion of high-value information which is available.

This paper aims to analyse the impact of open-access (OA) journals in engineering and technology institutions, if libraries are not subscribed to the journals through the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) mandatory packages. In India, many engineering colleges do not subscribe to journals through business subscription models or consortia and invariably a majority of them depend on OA journals to fulfil their users’ needs.

The paper identifies the impact factors of mandatory journals made in big-deal subscriptions with the impact factors of OA journals available to access in Directory of OA Journals pertaining to engineering and technology.

The study reveals that journals subscribed through big-deal subscriptions have better impact in the scholarly communications than the OA journals.

The results of this study cannot be generalized to all disciplines. Impact factors of journals can also be calculated by use of SCImago Journal Rank indicator, which uses the Scopus database. Publish or Perish can also be used to analyse Google Scholar rankings to identify the individual journal’s impact.

The result of the study is useful for selection of e-journals in big-deal subscriptions and it highlights the implications and impact of OA journals in engineering and technology.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between the access mode of research articles [Open Access (OA) and Toll-Access (TA)] and their subsequent citation counts in Biological and Physical Sciences in three Impact factor zones (High, Medium and Low).

Three subjects each from Biological Sciences (Biochemistry, Cell Biology and Genetics) and Physical Sciences (Astronomy, Oceanography and Optics) were selected for the study. A comprehensive list of journals (TA and OA) in select subjects of Biological and Physical Sciences was prepared by consulting Journal Citation Report’s Master Journal List (for the compilation of both Open Access and Toll Access journal list) and Directory of Open Access Journals (for the compilation of Open Access journal list). For each journal, essential details like content language, format, year of publication, access mode (Open Access or Toll Access), etc. were obtained from Ulrich’s Periodical Directory. Web of Science (WoS) was used as citations indexing tool in this study. The data set was run on the WoS to collect the citation data.

The results of the study indicate that open mode of access is not a prerequisite for higher citation boost as in the majority of the cases in this study, TA articles have garnered a greater number of citations as compared to open access articles in different Impact factor zones in Biological and Physical Sciences.

A novel approach has been adopted to understand and compare the research impact of open access (OA) and toll access (TA) journal articles in the field of Biological and Physical Sciences at three Impact factor zone levels to reveal the citation metrics encompassing three parameters, i.e. citedness, average citation count and year wise distribution of citations in select subjects of Biological and Physical Sciences.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/[DOI]/10.1108/OIR-01-2021-0029

The present study aims to examine the use of open access (OA) scholarly communication in India and investigate the factors affecting the adoption and use of OA scholarly communication among researchers.

The study adopted a quantitative research approach using a survey method. Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) of Web of Science database was selected as a source for identifying potential researchers and researchers' contact details. A web-based questionnaire was designed using Google Forms, and a link to the questionnaire was sent by email to 4,237 researchers belonging to Science and Technology. Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) is the primary basis for formulating the present study's conceptual model. Hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) was applied for identifying the factors that influence the adoption and use of OA scholarly communication.

The study found that researchers have limited knowledge of different OA concepts, initiatives and resources, resulting in a deficient level of participation in OA publishing. The HMR analysis authenticates that attitude, facilitating conditions, Internet usage self-efficacy, article processing charge (APC) and researchers' working experience significantly influence the adoption and use of OA scholarly communication. Based on the findings, the study proposed a validated model to investigate the adoption and use of OA scholarly communication in different institutions, research disciplines and developing countries with similar conditions.

The findings have several practical and policy implications for improving OA publishing in India, formulating OA policies and providing directions for further research.

This is the first study focusing on adopting and using OA scholarly communication in India. Findings may be helpful in planning and implementing OA initiatives. The influencing factors and the relative importance identified in the present study offered empirical evidence to demonstrate the researchers' attitudes and perceptions for adopting and using OA scholarly communication.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2021-0265.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the most recent literature concerning ILL, document supply and related matters.

This paper is based on the reading of over 150 journals as well as monographs, reports and websites.

Resistance to Big Deals for journals continues to grow – perhaps 2011 will be the crunch year for their continuation, although their attraction for users continues to be high. Big Deals for books are now becoming popular. Empirical studies on Open Access confirm its continued growth.

The paper is a useful source of information for librarians and others who are interested in ILL, document supply and related matters such as resource sharing, mass digitisation and open access.

This study investigates the extent to which a company's usage of open access (OA) literature for R&D activities depends on its size. The authors’ assumption is that smaller pharmaceutical companies have less access to (usually expensive) journal subscriptions.

A fixed-effect Poisson model was used to study a panel dataset of USPTO pharmaceutical company patents. The dependent variable is the count of citations to OA resources in a given company patent.

Results support current anecdotal evidence that many SMEs suffer from high journal prices.

This result justifies the assumption made by policymakers about the potentially positive impact OA mandates have on national innovation activity. It was also shown that collaborating with universities can be a potential coping mechanism for companies that struggle to gain access to the journals they need. In addition to the novelty of its findings, this study introduces a new way to study the impact of OA in nonacademic contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature concerning interlending and document supply.

The paper is based on the reading of over 130 journals and related material.

Some interesting findings on document supply including an important Outsell report on document suppliers and some research showing that whilst users expect and often make do with what is immediately available, nonetheless over half of the responders use document supply services. Some substantial pieces are reviewed on Big Deals including the dramatic growth in deposits as a result of toughening up the NIH mandate and some further articles on the UK Finch report on open access. The significant developments in Open Access are reflected once again in a lengthy section in this review.

The paper represents a useful resource for librarians and others concerned with interlending and document supply as well as such related matters as resource sharing and open access.

This paper aims to review the current LIS literature for document supply and related topics.

The paper is based on the scanning of about 150 journals, reports and websites, blogs etc.

Of great interest this quarter are two studies on journal half-lives which impact on the embargo length debate. Also a study that shows a decline in the free accessibility of journal articles. More on patron-driven acquisition and Big Deals.

This is the only regular review of the literature that focuses on document supply and related issues.

This paper aims to analyze open access (OA) scholarly publishing patterns as well as OA policies and mandates across European countries.

The study is based on a descriptive research approach using data from Web resources, directories and bibliographic and citation databases, namely, DOAJ, OpenDOAR, SCImago journal and Country Ranking portal, ROARMAP and Web of Science.

The findings indicate that the initiatives and measures in Europe that promote OA are adequate. OA journals and digital repositories have progressively increased over the past two decades. Of the total journals (n = 25,231) published worldwide and indexed in Scopus, 53% are published in European countries, with 23.7% being OA journals. In total, 34% of the OA repositories (n = 5,714) are in European countries. The proportion of OA journal papers has grown significantly in all European countries, with a 14.3% annual growth rate. The average proportion of OA publications in European countries is significantly higher (39.07%) than the world average (30.16%), with a clear inclination for making research literature openly accessible via the green OA route (79.41%) compared to the gold OA route (52.30%). Most European research funders and institutions have required researchers to make OA available for their research findings, either by publishing them in OA journals or depositing accepted manuscripts in repositories.

The study analyzed OA trends in Europe; other continents and countries were not included in the analysis. The study only described OA policies and mandates; the extent to which the OA policies and mandates were implemented was not studied. However, the results of the study may be helpful to policymakers, funders, research institutions and universities in other countries in adopting and implementing OA policies and mandates.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first that used multiple data sources for investigating different facets of OA publishing in European countries, including OA journals, digital repositories, research output, mandates and policies for publicly funded research. The findings will be helpful for researchers and policymakers interested in promoting OA adoption among researchers worldwide.