About the research
The research considered a combination of usage (download count), research impact (citations) and broader impact (using Altmetric data, news and policy mentions).
The results present strong evidence that OA articles in hybrid journals attract significantly more downloads, citations, and attention compared with articles published non-OA in hybrid journals.
Digital Science conducted the research, analysing more than 70,000 articles published in Springer Nature hybrid journals. The findings show the relationship between OA and usage (measured in terms of downloads), citations, and broader impact. There was a global study and an earlier UK study and both sets of findings are outlined below
Key findings
- Compared to non-OA articles, OA articles were downloaded 1.6 times more by users based at academic institutions and four times more by users overall
- OA articles attracted an average of 1.6 times more citations and 1.9 times more news mentions than non-OA articles
- A usage advantage was found across all subject fields
- Across both studies (global and UK), OA articles in hybrid journals benefit from an advantage across all metrics considered, attracting significantly more downloads, citations, and attention compared to non-OA articles
Downloads
- In the global study, OA articles were downloaded on average four times more often than non-OA articles
- The UK study found a similar usage benefit, with 3.2 times more downloads for OA articles on average
Citations
- In the global study, OA articles attract an average of 1.6 times more citations
- The citation advantage was found across all subjects, with the most significant gain for articles in clinical medicine, where OA articles attracted almost twice as many citations
- The model for the global study predicted that OA articles receive 36% more cumulative citations, after controlling for the influence of other variables
- In the UK study, after two years, OA articles had gained an average of 1.6 times more citations than non-OA articles
- The model predicted that OA articles were cited 30% more than non-OA articles
- The most recent articles published in the UK study were only 15 months old at the time of analysis, which is relatively early in terms of assessing scholarly impact. These results should therefore be considered as directional only.
Attention
- In the global study, OA articles attracted an average of 2.4 times more attention
- OA articles received 1.9 times more news mentions on average, with the model predicting that OA articles have 219% more news mentions
- OA articles received 1.2 times as many mentions in policy documents
- The model predicted OA articles have 166% more policy mentions
- In the UK study, the average Altmetric score after one year for OA articles was 3.2 times higher than for non-OA articles
The study can be downloaded here.