First results of the SOAP project. Open access publishing in 2010

The SOAP (Study of Open Access Publishing) project has compiled data on the present offer for open access publishing in online peer-reviewed journals. Starting from the Directory of Open Access Journals, several sources of data are considered, including inspection of journal web site and direct inquiries within the publishing industry. Several results are derived and discussed, together with their correlations: the number of open access journals and articles; their subject area; the starting date of open access journals; the size and business models of open access publishers; the licensing models; the presence of an impact factor; the uptake of hybrid open access.Comment: Submitted to PLoS ON

Open Access Publishing: An Initial Discussion of Income Sources, Scholarly Journals and Publishers

The Study for Open Access Publishing (SOAP) project is one of the initiatives undertaken to explore the risks and opportunities of the transition to open access publishing. Some of the early analyses of open access journals listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) show that more than half of the open access publishing initiatives were undertaken by smaller publishers, learned societies and few publishing houses that own a large number of journal titles. Regarding income sources as means for sustaining a journal’s functions, “article processing charges", "membership fee" and "advertisement" are the predominant options for the publishing houses; "subscription to the print version of the journal", "sponsorship" and somewhat less the "article processing charges" have the highest incidences for all other publishers

First results of the SOAP Project

* About the project * Highlights: Gold OA journals today * Results from the large-scale survey of researcher

First results of the FP7 SOAP Project

* About the project * Highlights: Gold OA journals today * Results from the large-scale survey of researcher