Discipline-specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change: an evidence-based review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
Background: Many of the discussions surrounding Open Access (OA) revolve around how it affects publishing practices across different academic disciplines. It was a long-held view that it would be only a matter of time before all disciplines fully and relatively homogeneously implemented OA. Recent l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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F1000 Research Ltd
2020-03-01
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| Series: | F1000Research |
| Online Access: | https://f1000research.com/articles/7-1925/v2 |
| _version_ | 1819170398133026816 |
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| author | Anna Severin Matthias Egger Martin Paul Eve Daniel Hürlimann |
| author_facet | Anna Severin Matthias Egger Martin Paul Eve Daniel Hürlimann |
| author_sort | Anna Severin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Many of the discussions surrounding Open Access (OA) revolve around how it affects publishing practices across different academic disciplines. It was a long-held view that it would be only a matter of time before all disciplines fully and relatively homogeneously implemented OA. Recent large-scale bibliometric studies show, however, that the uptake of OA differs substantially across disciplines. We aimed to answer two questions: First, how do different disciplines adopt and shape OA publishing practices? Second, what discipline-specific barriers to and potentials for OA can be identified? Methods: In a first step, we identified and synthesized relevant bibliometric studies that assessed OA prevalence and publishing patterns across disciplines. In a second step, and adopting a social shaping of technology perspective, we studied evidence on the socio-technical forces that shape OA publishing practices. We examined a variety of data sources, including, but not limited to, publisher policies and guidelines, OA mandates and policies and author surveys. Results: Over the last three decades, scholarly publishing has experienced a shift from “closed” access to OA as the proportion of scholarly literature that is openly accessible has increased continuously. Estimated OA levels for publication years after 2010 varied between 29.4% and 66%. The shift towards OA is uneven across disciplines in two respects: first, the growth of OA has been uneven across disciplines, which manifests itself in varying OA prevalence levels. Second, disciplines use different OA publishing channels to make research outputs OA. Conclusions: We conclude that historically rooted publishing practices differ in terms of their compatibility with OA, which is the reason why OA can be assumed to be a natural continuation of publishing cultures in some disciplines, whereas in other disciplines, the implementation of OA faces major barriers and would require a change of research culture. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T19:34:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dfa9315461aa4ca8982157b2b1c16a4c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2046-1402 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T19:34:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | F1000 Research Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | F1000Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-dfa9315461aa4ca8982157b2b1c16a4c2022-12-21T18:15:01ZengF1000 Research LtdF1000Research2046-14022020-03-01710.12688/f1000research.17328.225075Discipline-specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change: an evidence-based review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]Anna Severin0Matthias Egger1Martin Paul Eve2Daniel Hürlimann3Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), University of Bern, Bern, 3012, SwitzerlandInstitute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), University of Bern, Bern, 3012, SwitzerlandDepartment of English and Humanities, Birkbeck University of London, London, WC1H 0PD, UKResearch Center for Information Law, University of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, 9000, SwitzerlandBackground: Many of the discussions surrounding Open Access (OA) revolve around how it affects publishing practices across different academic disciplines. It was a long-held view that it would be only a matter of time before all disciplines fully and relatively homogeneously implemented OA. Recent large-scale bibliometric studies show, however, that the uptake of OA differs substantially across disciplines. We aimed to answer two questions: First, how do different disciplines adopt and shape OA publishing practices? Second, what discipline-specific barriers to and potentials for OA can be identified? Methods: In a first step, we identified and synthesized relevant bibliometric studies that assessed OA prevalence and publishing patterns across disciplines. In a second step, and adopting a social shaping of technology perspective, we studied evidence on the socio-technical forces that shape OA publishing practices. We examined a variety of data sources, including, but not limited to, publisher policies and guidelines, OA mandates and policies and author surveys. Results: Over the last three decades, scholarly publishing has experienced a shift from “closed” access to OA as the proportion of scholarly literature that is openly accessible has increased continuously. Estimated OA levels for publication years after 2010 varied between 29.4% and 66%. The shift towards OA is uneven across disciplines in two respects: first, the growth of OA has been uneven across disciplines, which manifests itself in varying OA prevalence levels. Second, disciplines use different OA publishing channels to make research outputs OA. Conclusions: We conclude that historically rooted publishing practices differ in terms of their compatibility with OA, which is the reason why OA can be assumed to be a natural continuation of publishing cultures in some disciplines, whereas in other disciplines, the implementation of OA faces major barriers and would require a change of research culture.https://f1000research.com/articles/7-1925/v2 |
| spellingShingle | Anna Severin Matthias Egger Martin Paul Eve Daniel Hürlimann Discipline-specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change: an evidence-based review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] F1000Research |
| title | Discipline-specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change: an evidence-based review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_full | Discipline-specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change: an evidence-based review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_fullStr | Discipline-specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change: an evidence-based review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Discipline-specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change: an evidence-based review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_short | Discipline-specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change: an evidence-based review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_sort | discipline specific open access publishing practices and barriers to change an evidence based review version 2 peer review 1 approved 2 approved with reservations |
| url | https://f1000research.com/articles/7-1925/v2 |
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