Baghestan et al. (2019)
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Source Details
| Baghestan et al. (2019) | |
| Title: | A Crisis in “Open Access”: Should Communication Scholarly Outputs Take 77 Years to Become Open Access? |
| Author(s): | Baghestan, A. G., Khaniki, H., Kalantari, A., Akhtari-Zavare, M., Farahmand, E., Tamam, E., Ebrahim, N. A., Sabani, H., Danaee, M |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Citation: | Abbas Ghanbari Baghestan, Hadi Khaniki, Abdolhosein Kalantari, Mehrnoosh Akhtari-Zavare, Elaheh Farahmand, Ezhar Tamam, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Havva Sabani and Mahmoud Danaee (2019) A Crisis in “Open Access”: Should Communication Scholarly Outputs Take 77 Years to Become Open Access? SAGE Open 9(3) |
| Link(s): | Open Access |
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| About the Data | |
| Data Description: | Data were gathered from items on the the Web of Science Core Collection, totalling 87,997,893 documents across 184 categories. Only those labelled as "communications" were used as a selection for study (95,304). Analysis considered open access status, types of documents, country and language. |
| Data Type: | Primary and Secondary data |
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| Country(ies): | |
| Cross Country Study?: | Yes |
| Comparative Study?: | No |
| Literature review?: | No |
| Government or policy study?: | No |
| Time Period(s) of Collection: |
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Abstract
“This study diachronically investigates the trend of the “open access” in the Web of Science (WoS) category of “communication.” To evaluate the trend, data were collected from 184 categories of WoS from 1980 to 2017. A total of 87,997,893 documents were obtained, of which 95,304 (0.10%) were in the category of “communication.” In average, 4.24% of the documents in all 184 categories were open access. While in communication, it was 3.29%, which ranked communication 116 out of 184. An Open Access Index (OAI) was developed to predict the trend of open access in communication. Based on the OAI, communication needs 77 years to fully reach open access, which undeniably can be considered as “crisis in scientific publishing” in this field. Given this stunning information, it is the time for a global call for “open access” by communication scholars across the world. Future research should investigate whether the current business models of publications in communication scholarships are encouraging open access or pose unnecessary restrictions on knowledge development.”
Main Results of the Study
Despite a significant growth in the number of open access documents in 2015 and 2016, only 3.29% of “communications” examined were indexed as open access.
Open access availability varies by a number of categories. By country, the US reports the highest number of open access communications (45.16% of the total open access publications from 2007-2017) and England amongst the lowest (2.38%). Communications in Spanish are more likely to be classed as open access than those in English. Lastly, open access indexations are more prevalent in book reviews and editorials, whereas non-open access indexations are more prevalent in articles and proceeding papers.
Based on the current growth rate of open access communications, 100% of communications will be open access by 2094 (77 years).
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
The study does not make any explicit policy recommendations, instead issuing a “global call” for open access to scholars. This may include considering e.g. new business models which encourage open access.
Coverage of Study
Datasets
| Sample size: | 87997893 |
| Level of aggregation: | Scholarly Communications |
| Period of material under study: | 1980-2017 |
