Characteristics of Open Access Journals in Six Subject Areas

[Eugene Garfield]

Characteristics of Open Access Journals in Six Subject Areas

Author(s): Walters, WH (Walters, William H.); Linvill, AC (Linvill, Anne C.)
Source: COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES  Volume: 72  Issue: 4  Pages: 372-
392  Published: JUL 2011  

Abstract: We examine the characteristics of 663 Open Access (OA) journals in 
biology, computer science, economics, history, medicine, and psychology, then 
compare the OA journals with impact factors to comparable subscription 
journals. There is great variation in the size of OA journals; the largest 
publishes more than 2,700 articles per year, but half publish 25 or fewer. While 
just 29 percent of OA journals charge publication fees, those journals represent 
50 percent of the articles in our study. OA journals in the fields of biology and 
medicine are larger than the others, more likely to charge fees, and more likely 
to have a high citation impact. Overall, the OA journal landscape is greatly 
influenced by a few key publishers and journals.

Language: English
Document Type: Article
Addresses: [Walters, WH] Menlo Coll, Lib Serv, Atherton, CA USA
Reprint Address: Walters, WH (reprint author), Menlo Coll, Lib Serv, Atherton, 
CA USA

E-mail Address: wwalters at menlo.edu, alinvill at menlo.edu
ISSN: 0010-0870
URL: http://crl.acrl.org/content/72/4/372.abstract