Measuring Open Access Uptake: Databases, Metrics, and International Comparisons

Dear Colleagues,

In a context where various public policies seek to promote open science, the measurement of developments in this field is the subject of numerous contributions. The intended target is 100% of scientific production in open access (OA). Thus, both in high-income countries and in emerging countries with a strong incentive towards OA (e.g., Latin America), measuring OA uptake is important to monitor progress towards public policy objectives. Therefore, it is imperative to have an OA “dashboard” in order to streamline decisions and support arbitrations in favor of OA.

Measuring uptake of OA is not an easy task. Several factors can affect results and should be considered, such as: disparities in how publications are identified as OA from one database to another; the types of OA that are analyzed; and the types of publications taken into account (e.g., with or without DOI, document types). In addition to the issues related to the data used, the question of the measures/indicators is of particular importance. Thus, OA publishing practices may vary across disciplines. Even if the objective is to reach 100% of publications in OA, the starting point is not the same according to the communities.

A last point, and not the least significant, is that of economic models and the cost linked to OA publications, as "open" does not necessarily mean "free" whatever the model adopted. It would be useful for stakeholders in scholarly publishing to have a reflexive analysis of the different models and their optimality. Insights resulting from econometric viewpoints or agent-based simulations will be warmly welcomed. We would also like to encourage colleagues from different scientific fields (biomedical, engineering, philosophy, etc.) to contribute and report their experiences within the context of the topics raised in the form of opinions, perspectives, reviews or original research articles.

Contributions may relate to the following topics (non-exhaustive list):

• Measurement of open access: databases and indicators;
• Analysis of scholarly publishing economic models;
• Analysis of OA adoption around the world (including in emerging countries);
• Initiatives and public policies to promote OA.

Prof. Dr. Francesco De Pretis
Guest Editor
Ahmad Yaman Abdin
Guest Editor Assistant

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• open access
• economic model
• bibliometrics
• article processing charges
• scholarly publishing
• databases
• international comparisons