The state of OA: a large-scale analysis of the prevalence and impact of Open Access articles

Despite growing interest in Open Access (OA) to scholarly literature, there is an unmet need for large-scale, up-to-date, and reproducible studies assessing the prevalence and characteristics of OA. We address this need using oaDOI, an open online service that determines OA status for 67 million articles. We use three samples, each of 100,000 articles, to investigateOAin three populations: (1) all journal articles assigned a Crossref DOI, (2) recent journal articles indexed in Web of Science, and (3) articles viewed by users of Unpaywall, an open-source browser extension that lets users find OA articles using oaDOI. We estimate that at least 28% of the scholarly literature is OA (19M in total) and that this proportion is growing, driven particularly by growth in Gold and Hybrid. The most recent year analyzed (2015) also has the highest percentage of OA (45%). Because of this growth, and the fact that readers disproportionately access newer articles, we find that Unpaywall users encounter OA quite frequently: 47% of articles they view are OA. Notably, the most common mechanism for OA is not Gold, Green, or Hybrid OA, but rather an under-discussed category we dub Bronze: articles made freeto- read on the publisher website, without an explicit Open license. We also examine the citation impact of OA articles, corroborating the so-called open-access citation advantage: accounting for age and discipline, OA articles receive 18% more citations than average, an effect driven primarily by Green and Hybrid OA.Weencourage further research using the free oaDOI service, as a way to inform OA policy and practice

Jumping over the paywall: Strategies and motivations for scholarly piracy and other alternatives

Despite the advance of the Open Access (OA) movement, most scholarly production can only be accessed through a paywall. We conduct an international survey among researchers (N=3,304) to measure the willingness and motivations to use (or not use) scholarly piracy sites, and other alternatives to overcome a paywall such as paying with their own money, institutional loans, just reading the abstract, asking the corresponding author for a copy of the document, asking a colleague to get the document for them, or searching for an OA version of the paper. We also explore differences in terms of age, professional position, country income level, discipline, and commitment to OA. The results show that researchers most frequently look for OA versions of the documents. However, more than 50% of the participants have used a scholarly piracy site at least once. This is less common in high-income countries, and among older and better-established scholars. Regarding disciplines, such services were less used in Life & Health Sciences and Social Sciences. Those who have never used a pirate library highlighted ethical and legal objections or pointed out that they were not aware of the existence of such libraries

Academics and copyright ownership: ignorant, confused or misled?

Academics and copyright ownership: ignorant, confused or misled

Black Open Access in Ukraine: Analysis of Downloading Sci-Hub Publications by Ukrainian Internet Users

Introduction. High subscription fees to scholarly research journals provoke researchers to use illegal channels of access to scientific information. Analysis of statistical data on downloads of scholarly research papers by Ukrainian Internet users from illegal web resource can help to define gaps in information provision at the institutional or the state level for each scientific field. Problem Statement. To conduct an analysis of behavior and geography of downloads of scholarly research publications from illegal web resource Sci-Hub by Ukrainian Internet users within the period from September 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016. Purpose. To assess the information needs of Ukrainian researchers who download scientific papers from Sci-Hub. Materials and Methods. The used file is available at public domain and contains complete data of downloads of scholarly research articles from Sci-Hub for the period from September 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016. Inquiries of users with Ukrainian IP-addresses have been selected. Using DOI of downloaded articles enables finding the publishers and journal brands with the help of CrossRef API, whereas using the All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes makes it possible to identify the subject. Results. The study has shown that the most documents downloaded related to natural sciences (primarily, chemistry, physics, and astronomy), with Elsevier publications being the most frequently inquired by Ukrainian users of Sci-Hub and Internet users from Kyiv downloading the papers most actively. Conclusion. The obtained data are important for understanding the information needs of Ukrainian researchers and can be used to formulate an optimal subscription policy for providing access to information resources at Ukrainian R&D institutions

Unbundling Open Access dimensions: a conceptual discussion to reduce terminology inconsistencies

The current ways in which documents are made freely accessible in the Web no longer adhere to the models established Budapest/Bethesda/Berlin (BBB) definitions of Open Access (OA). Since those definitions were established, OA-related terminology has expanded, trying to keep up with all the variants of OA publishing that are out there. However, the inconsistent and arbitrary terminology that is being used to refer to these variants are complicating communication about OA-related issues. This study intends to initiate a discussion on this issue, by proposing a conceptual model of OA. Our model features six different dimensions (authoritativeness, user rights, stability, immediacy, peer-review, and cost). Each dimension allows for a range of different options. We believe that by combining the options in these six dimensions, we can arrive at all the current variants of OA, while avoiding ambiguous and/or arbitrary terminology. This model can be an useful tool for funders and policy makers who need to decide exactly which aspects of OA are necessary for each specific scenario

An Investigation of Gold Open Access Publications of STEM Faculty at a Public University in the United States

This study investigated Gold Open Access journal publication by science and engineering faculty at the authors’ university from 2013 to 2022. Specifically, did Gold Open Access (OA) by these faculty increase, and did the publication rate vary between disciplines? The authors found that Gold OA publication increased by 176% over the past 10 years, and that an important factor was the Libraries’ creation of an Open Access Publishing Fund in 2017. Disciplinary differences in publication rates were also notable, with life sciences research showing the highest rates of open access publication. An analysis of where our faculty are publishing found that MDPI is the most popular Open Access publisher in STEM fields, but many of the new Gold Open Access journals from traditional STEM publishers are also being chosen

Diminishing the perceived need for black open access

Conference paper and presentation slidesThe attention garnered by unauthorized sharing and pirating of scholarly content has resulted in a new category on the open access spectrum – black open access. Though black open access attempts to solve the discovery problem inherent in the multitude of open access content sources, it does so in violation of copyright law. Tools have now been developed to combat this same problem legally, including the Open Access Button and Unpaywall. Librarians can engage in several strategies to help diminish the need for black open access, including the promotion of these discovery tools through education and services. We can share the tools with our users and teach them why they should not engage in unauthorized sharing. We can use the tools to fulfill requests and capture the benefits of open access in interlibrary loan. There are also more general strategies related to infrastructure, policy, and education that are important to acknowledge. Librarians can and must move the open access conversation forward in a positive, and legal, direction. This paper provides an overview of the black open access landscape, discusses the discovery tools for uncovering legal open access content, and highlights how librarians can improve systems, services, and education efforts related to open access and open access discovery tools