... Many reports have pointed to more widespread awareness (if not
necessarily deeper understanding) among researchers’ of open
access, particularly in some areas in the biological and physical
sciences. There is some pressure on researchers from funders and
from universities to make use of open access repositories, and
previous surveys have indicated that a majority of researchers
are prepared to respond to positively to such pressures. But
uptake of open access options – either through publication in
open access journals or through deposit of articles in open access
repositories – has been slower than many would have hoped.
Our survey shows that over 60% of researchers believe that open
access repositories are either ‘not important’ or ‘not applicable’ to
the dissemination of their research. This may reflect researchers’
concerns – shown in earlier studies – that open access outlets will
be not be rated highly by peer reviewers – either in the [Research Assessment Exercise] or on
interview panels – or in any bibliometric analysis.
There are, however, significant disciplinary differences: 52% of
physical sciences and mathematics researchers say open access
repositories are ‘important’ or ‘very important’; whereas only
25% of humanities researchers say the same.
The most prevalent influence on the decision to use open access
repositories was maximising dissemination to the target audience
(47% saying it has a lot of influence, 22.% a little influence). The
requirements of research assessment has the least influence (77%
saying it had none at all). There is some evidence, however, of
an increase in awareness of funders’ and institutions’ policies
relating to open access, prompted by the desire to reach wider
audiences as rapidly as possible ...
Many researchers, especially younger ones, are clear, however,
that a move to any system based even in part on citations will
have a significant effect on their publication and dissemination
behaviour. Thus 22% say it will lead them to produce more
publications; 33% that it will lead them to submit their work more
often to high-status journals; and 43% that it will lead them to
make their research freely-available on open access. Researchers
in physical sciences and maths are the least likely to see a move
to open access, perhaps because many of them have made the
move already. ...
Only a relatively small minority of researchers, however, as yet
make much use of open access repositories, or of blogs, wikis
and other web-based tools to publish and disseminate their work.
For those who do use open access repositories, it is notable that
the key influences are the desire to reach key audiences speedily:
funder requirements have relatively little influence. ...
Access to material online has greatly facilitated the process
of finding, reading and deciding what to cite. ... A third of
researchers in the life sciences say that easy accessibility has a
major influence on what they cite, and the proportion rises
among younger researchers. In the humanities and social
sciences, easy accessibility has less influence. ...
Posted by
Gavin Baker at 9/22/2009 05:03:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
