Abstract: The behavior of researchers when self-archiving in an institutional repository has not been previously analyzed. This paper uses available information for three repositories analyzing when researchers (as authors) deposit their research articles. The three repositories have variants of a mandatory deposit policy.
It is shown that it takes several years for a mandatory policy to be institutionalized and routinized, but that once it has been the deposit of articles takes place in a remarkably short time after publication, or in some cases even before. Authors overwhelmingly deposit well before six months after publication date. The OA mantra of 'deposit now, set open access when feasible' is shown to be not only reasonable, but fitting what researchers actually do.
From the body of the paper:
Conclusions:
Repository managers should invest in promotion and follow-up for 2-3 years after a mandatory policy is promulgated, after which the behavior becomes
routinized.
No especial activities need to be undertaken to convince researchers to
deposit research articles soon after publication – this seems to happen
naturally under mandatory policies.
Six month embargos by publishers are likely to be unpopular with researchers,
since in the absence of constraints they deposit earlier than this.
The recommendation widely adopted by the open access movement and
summarized as ‘deposit immediately, and make open access as soon as legally
possible’ is shown to be excellent advice for any university or funding agency
considering adopting a mandatory policy.
Comment. This is an important set of results. Sale's research shows that OA mandates work without coercion and supports the case for university-level mandates, the case for the dual deposit/release strategy, and the case against self-archiving embargoes.
Update. The published edition is now online, in the October 2006 issue of First Monday.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 8/23/2006 08:52:00 AM.
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.
