Study Hall: John Wiley & Sons Documents the Rapid Growth of Open Access in Academic Publishing
According to a recent study from John Wiley & Sons, Inc., the number of open access (OA) authors—those who release their articles in journals that provide free access—is growing. The study, Wiley’s 2013 Open Access Author Survey, explores how research experience, funding availability and the profile of publications affect an author’s willingness to publish in an open access journal.
The survey received responses from over 8,000 authors of Wiley journal articles and was published in early October of this year. The survey defined an open access article as one that is free for all to read, download or share and for which the article’s author, institution or funding body has paid the Article Publication Charge (APC) to make that article open access.
Open access publishing has doubled since last year, from 32% of authors having published OA to 59% in 2013, but there are a number of concerns that prevent authors from publishing OA. Foremost among authors is an unwillingness to pay to publish their work and concerns about the quality of OA publications.
Early career professionals were 6% more likely than mature researchers to publish under a Creative Commons license, allowing greater access to the article. Licenses most preferred among authors were CC-BY (Creative Commons License with author attribution) at 71% and CC-BY-NC (Creative Commons License with author attribution and no commercial use) at 81%.
Along with rapid OA publishing growth, funding for OA articles has increased, with 51% of respondents receiving full or partial funding, a 43% jump from last year.
- People:
- Ellen Harvey
- John Wiley
Ellen Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who covers the latest technologies and strategies reshaping the publishing landscape. She previously served as the Senior Editor at Publishing Executive and Book Business.