In the UK: “Young Researchers Preach Open Access, Yet Many Don’t Practice”
From Nature Index:
Most British scientists agree that academic research should be free to everyone, but fewer than half have published in open-access journals, and some never will, a recent survey has found. Among the least represented group in open-access publishing are academics under 35
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[Yimei] Zhu [who authored the paper as part of her PhD at the University of Manchester] sent out her survey in June 2013, a few months after the government organisation funding scientific research, Research Councils UK (RCUK), introduced the requirement that grant recipients make their research publically available within a five-year transition period.
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Her results were contradictory. While 93% of respondents felt open-access science was important, and 55% agreed that it would bring citation advantages, only 41% had published articles in an open-access journal. Researchers under 35 as well as PhD candidates, master’s students and research assistants had the least experience with open-access publishing. Those who were aware of RCUK’s policy, however, were more likely to have tried open access.
Read the Complete Nature Index Article
Direct to Full Text Article: “Who support open access publishing? Gender, discipline, seniority and other factors associated with academics’ OA practice.”
Scientometrics (2017) 111: 557
doi:10.1007/s11192-017-2316-z
Filed under: Funding, Journal Articles, News, Open Access, Publishing
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.