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The academic, economic and societal impacts of Open Access: an evidence-based review.

Tennant, Jonathan P and Waldner, François and Jacques, Damien C and Masuzzo, Paola and Collister, Lauren B and Hartgerink, Chris HJ (2016) The academic, economic and societal impacts of Open Access: an evidence-based review. F1000Res, 5. 632 - ?. ISSN 2046-1402

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Abstract

Ongoing debates surrounding Open Access to the scholarly literature are multifaceted and complicated by disparate and often polarised viewpoints from engaged stakeholders. At the current stage, Open Access has become such a global issue that it is critical for all involved in scholarly publishing, including policymakers, publishers, research funders, governments, learned societies, librarians, and academic communities, to be well-informed on the history, benefits, and pitfalls of Open Access. In spite of this, there is a general lack of consensus regarding the potential pros and cons of Open Access at multiple levels. This review aims to be a resource for current knowledge on the impacts of Open Access by synthesizing important research in three major areas: academic, economic and societal. While there is clearly much scope for additional research, several key trends are identified, including a broad citation advantage for researchers who publish openly, as well as additional benefits to the non-academic dissemination of their work. The economic impact of Open Access is less well-understood, although it is clear that access to the research literature is key for innovative enterprises, and a range of governmental and non-governmental services. Furthermore, Open Access has the potential to save both publishers and research funders considerable amounts of financial resources, and can provide some economic benefits to traditionally subscription-based journals. The societal impact of Open Access is strong, in particular for advancing citizen science initiatives, and leveling the playing field for researchers in developing countries. Open Access supersedes all potential alternative modes of access to the scholarly literature through enabling unrestricted re-use, and long-term stability independent of financial constraints of traditional publishers that impede knowledge sharing. However, Open Access has the potential to become unsustainable for research communities if high-cost options are allowed to continue to prevail in a widely unregulated scholarly publishing market. Open Access remains only one of the multiple challenges that the scholarly publishing system is currently facing. Yet, it provides one foundation for increasing engagement with researchers regarding ethical standards of publishing and the broader implications of 'Open Research'.


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Details

Item Type: Article
Status: Published
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Tennant, Jonathan P
Waldner, François
Jacques, Damien C
Masuzzo, Paola
Collister, Lauren Bcollister@pitt.eduLBC80000-0001-5767-8486
Hartgerink, Chris HJ
Date: 20 September 2016
Date Type: Acceptance
Access Restriction: No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately.
Journal or Publication Title: F1000Res
Volume: 5
Page Range: 632 - ?
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.12688/f1000research.8460.3
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: University libraries > University Library System
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: Altmetrics, Copyright, Incentive System, Open Access, Open Citation Advantage, Open Science, Text and Data Mining, Publishing
ISSN: 2046-1402
Article Type: Review
Date Deposited: 26 Sep 2016 16:00
Last Modified: 05 Sep 2024 15:55
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/29598

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