[BOAI] Research shows growing awareness and uptake of Open Access publishing by authors

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from Jennie Johnson at InTech.  --Peter Suber.]


Research shows growing awareness and uptake of Open Access publishing by
authors/

Today InTech, an Open Access publisher, has published the results of a
survey appraising attitudes and awareness of the research community towards
the Open Access (OA) business model in scholarly publishing.

The InTech white paper: “Open Access: Awareness and Attitudes amongst the
Author Community”, is based on a review of current research and a survey
sent to 20,000 STM researchers worldwide. The survey attracted an overall
response rate of 1.3%, with 275 participants taking part and 253 (92%)
completing it. The majority of respondents were researchers (75%) based at
a university (70%). The data was sourced from an independent provider of
contact data for the research community (Mardev).


Key findings:

* High levels of awareness of Open Access - of 258 participants who
responded when asked, 51% said they understood OA publishing, and 36% said
they had some knowledge of it

* OA publishing experience is lower but still strong - 26% said they had
published with an OA publisher for a journal article and 10% for a book

* Awareness and experience of OA publishing varies by subject – researchers
in Biological Sciences had greater awareness and experience, particularly
in journals, while participants from the Earth Sciences and Technology had
lower awareness and less OA publishing experience

* Over 25% of researchers are aware of Open Access publishers such as PLoS,
InTech, BioMedCentral and Hindawi

* For Open Access journal publications, it is the image and reputation of
the journal itself that is the most important factor for authors when
considering where to submit their work; but for books it is the image and
reputation of the publisher

* The survey highlighted that authors want more support from publishers in
getting their work noticed – services provided by publishers where the
level of satisfaction scored lowest centred on PR and media support;
post-publication information on usage / citations / peer feedback; and
promoting the author effectively alongside their work.

Henk Compier, Managing Director at InTech is not surprised by the evidence
supporting widespread awareness of Open Access within the research
community, “We have seen great enthusiasm amongst our authors for the Open
Access model.”

The survey also explored the most common concerns surrounding OA
publishing; among these were author fees – over 65% (of the 256
participants who responded) said they were willing to pay author fees, 30%
said they would be willing to pay if it helped ensure the widest possible
audience for their work, while 38% would only pay in exceptional
circumstances.

Henk Compier commented on this saying, “Any concerns that we hear from
authors usually come from a lack of understanding of this relatively new
model. Often we find that if we get a chance to explain our processes and
dispel some of the myths surrounding Open Access publishing, authors are
generally supportive of the principles.”

The full results can be downloaded from:
http://www.intechweb.org/js/**ckeditor/kcfinder/upload/**
files/InTech_WhitePaper_**FutureofOA_Dec11.pdf<http://www.intechweb.org/js/ckeditor/kcfinder/upload/files/InTech_WhitePaper_FutureofOA_Dec11.pdf>

By sharing the results of this survey, InTech hopes to encourage other OA
publishers and advocates to promote understanding and discussion of the
issues while making progress in shaping the model to meet the needs of the
research community.


For more information, please contact:
Paul MacKenzie-Cummins, Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +385 51 770 447 / Email: mackenzie at intechweb.org


About InTech

InTech is an Open Access company within the fields of Science, Technology
and Medicine. Established in 2004, the company is one of the earliest
pioneers of open access and have since become one of the fastest growing
publishers in the world today.
Useful facts and figures: In 2011 -

* InTech published 800 books using the Open Access publishing model

* Worked with 60,000 authors

* Received 735,000 downloads of books and over1.7 million downloads of
chapters and articles

* Averaged 154,000 unique users per month.
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