1. The SOAP Symposium – III
Open Access Publishing Today:
What scientists do and why
Suenje Dallmeier-Tiessen, Robert Darby, Bettina Goerner, Jenni Hyppoelae,
Peter Igo-Kemenes, Deborah Kahn, Simon Lambert, Anja Lengenfelder,
Chris Leonard, Salvatore Mele, Malgorzata Nowicka, Panayiota Polydoratou,
David Ross, Sergio Ruiz-Perez, Ralf Schimmer, Mark Swaisland and Wim van der Stelt
BMC, CERN, MPDL, SAGE, Springer and STFC
Presented by
Salvatore MELE, CERN
SOAP Symposium, January 13th, 2011, Berlin
project-soap.eu
2. Outline
Why do scholars publish OA?
What about fees?
How much do scholars pay to publish OA ?
How do they pay ?
How much are they ready to pay ?
Why don’t scholars publish OA?
What should be changed?
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 2
3. Outline
Why do scholars publish OA?
What about fees?
How much do scholars pay to publish OA ?
How do they pay ?
How much are they ready to pay ?
Why don’t scholars publish OA?
What should be changed?
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 3
4. Remember…
About 10% of scholarly articles are
published in Open Access journals…
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 4
5. Why did you publish OA?
A follow-up survey
(n = 2’594 – 2’664)
Irrelevant Less Important Extremely
important important
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 5
6. Why did you publish OA?
Scientists who paid fees to publish OA
(n = 1,143 – 1,159)
Irrelevant Less Important Extremely
important important
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 6
7. Why did you publish OA?
Scientists who did not pay fees to publish OA
(n = 1,451 – 1,505)
Irrelevant Less Important Extremely
important important
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 7
8. Outline
Why do scholars publish OA?
What about fees?
How much do scholars pay to publish OA ?
How do they pay ?
How much are they ready to pay ?
Why don’t scholars publish OA?
What should be changed?
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 8
9. Outline
Why do scholars publish OA?
What about fees?
How much do scholars pay to publish OA ?
How do they pay ?
How much are they ready to pay ?
Why don’t scholars publish OA?
What should be changed?
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 9
10. Which fee did you pay for
your last OA article?
(n=22,977)
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 10
11. Which fee did you pay for
your last OA article?
(n=22,977)
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 11
12. Why did you not pay to publish OA?
A follow-up survey
(n = 1,786)
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 12
13. Outline
Why do scholars publish OA?
What about fees?
How much do scholars pay to publish OA ?
How do they pay ?
How much are they ready to pay ?
Why don’t scholars publish OA?
What should be changed?
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 13
14. How was this fee covered?
(n = 9’645)
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15. How was this fee covered?
(n = 9’645)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Astronomy
and
space
science
Earth
sciences
Biological
sciences
Physics
and
related
sciences
Mathema>cal
and
computer
sciences
Research
funding
includes
Engineering
and
technology
Funding
not
intended
My
ins>tu>on
paid
Psychology
I
paid
myself
Chemistry
Other
Agriculture
and
related
sciences
Social
sciences
Medicine,
den>stry
and
related
subjects
Business
and
administra>ve
studies
Educa>on
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 15
16. How was this fee covered?
(n = 9’645)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Korea,
South
China
Japan
Singapore
Israel
United
States
of
America
Spain
Poland
Austria
Research
funding
includes
Italy
Funding
not
intended
Canada
United
Kingdom
My
ins>tu>on
paid
Finland
Germany
I
paid
myself
Russia
Mexico
Other
Sweden
Portugal
Brazil
Taiwan
Netherlands
France
India
Belgium
Switzerland
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 16
17. How easy was it to obtain funds?
(n = 8’208)
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18. How easy was it to obtain funds?
(n = 8’208)
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19. How easy was it to obtain funds?
(n = 8’208)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Industrial/commercial
Research
ins>tute
Easy
Government
Difficult
University
or
college
I
have
not
used
these
sources
Other
Hospital
or
medical
school
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 19
20. How easy was it to obtain funds?
(n = 8’208)
Easy
Difficult
I
have
not
used
these
sources
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Japan
Korea,
South
Austria
Germany
Taiwan
Switzerland
Netherlands
Singapore
Finland
United
States
of
America
China
Denmark
Belgium
France
Canada
United
Kingdom
Spain
Poland
Sweden
Israel
Italy
Brazil
Portugal
Australia
Iran
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21. Outline
Why do scholars publish OA?
What about fees?
How much do scholars pay to publish OA ?
How do they pay ?
How much are they ready to pay ?
Why don’t scholars publish OA?
What should be changed?
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 21
22. How much would you pay to publish OA?
A follow-up survey
(n = 1’280)
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 22
23. How much would you pay to publish OA?
Those who published and easily paid fees (n=454)
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24. How much would you pay to publish OA?
Those who published & paid fees with difficulty (n=666)
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
I
would
not
accept
any
fee
Less
than
€50
($65)
€50
-‐
€100
($65
-‐
$130)
€100
-‐
€300
($130
-‐
$390)
€300
-‐
€500
($390
-‐
$650)
€500
-‐
€1000
($650
-‐
$1300)
€1000
-‐
€2000
($1300
-‐
$2600)
More
than
€2000
($2600)
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 24
25. How much would you pay to publish OA?
Medicine and related subjects (n=411)
26. How much would you pay to publish OA?
Earth sciences (n=81)
27. How much would you pay to publish OA?
Biological sciences (n=411)
28. Remember…
About 10% of scholarly articles are
published in Open Access journals…
…but about 90% of scholars think
Open Access is beneficial
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30. Outline
Why do scholars publish OA?
What about fees?
How much do scholars pay to publish OA ?
How do they pay ?
How much are they ready to pay ?
Why don’t scholars publish OA?
What should be changed?
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 30
31. Was there a reason not to publish OA?
42% gave a reason; 5’000 answers; 60’000 words
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32. Was there a reason not to publish OA?
(n = 4’976)
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33. Was there a reason not to publish OA?
(n = 4’976)
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34. Do demand and supply for high Impact-
Factor OA journals match?
Does not publish because of “quality”=20% Does not publish because of “quality”=23%
Does not publish because of “quality”=32% Does not publish because of “quality”=39%
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 34
35. Outline
Why do scholars publish OA?
What about fees?
How much do scholars pay to publish OA ?
How do they pay ?
How much are they ready to pay ?
Why don’t scholars publish OA?
What should be changed?
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 35
36. What should be changed
for scientists to publish OA ?
(n = 1’060 – 1’077)
Quality
or
pres>ge
of
OA
journal
Impact
factor
Waivers
or
no
fees
Publisher
reputa>on
More
good
OA
journals
in
my
field
Lower
publica>on
fees
OA
journal
count
for
career
Faster
publica>on
process
Journal
converted
to
OA
Ease
to
obtain
funds
to
pay
fees
Recommenda>on
from
colleagues
Irrelevant Less Important Extremely
important important
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 36
37. Summary
Gap between beliefs and actions:
Major limitation: (perceived) lack of high-quality OA
journals
Major barrier: fees and funding
Sizable country-by-country and discipline-
by-discipline difference
One size does not fit all !
Salvatore MELE | CERN SOAP Symposium 37