(OA) is an evolving publication model that is heavily supported by politics and science organizations aiming to make scientific knowledge more accessible to a wider audience. Whether it will indeed alter scholarly communication, however, depends on researchers' underlying attitudes, motivations, and needs. Drawing on group discussions and interviews (n = 42), this study explores the perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of researchers towards OA publishing. We focus on researchers in the field of biomedical and health informatics located in different global regions and from different seniority levels. Overall, the results show that whilst most researchers support the idea of making scientific knowledge freely accessible to everyone, they are hesitant about actually living this practice by choosing OA journals to publish their own work. Article processing charges and quality issues are perceived as the main obstacles in this respect, revealing a two-sided evaluation of OA models, reflecting the different viewpoints of researchers as authors or readers. The results further highlight hitherto underexplored influencing factors regarding institutional frame conditions, located on the level of the scientific system, the publication service providers or the national/international OA policies.
Within Trans-O-MIM we will reach at least nine of the sixteen criteria for adequate transformation. It was positive to implement Trans-O-MIM as international research project. After first steps for transforming Methods have successfully been made, challenges will remain, among others, in identifying appropriate incentives for open access publishing in order to support its transformation.
Open Access is an upcoming paradigm to communicate scientific knowledge. The Trans-O-MIM Project works on strategies, models, and evaluation metrics for the goal-oriented, stepwise, sustainable, and fair transformation of established subscription-based scientific journals into open-access-based journals. This research intends to present an evaluation metric and the associated identified appropriate parameters for such transformations. To develop the evaluation metric, it has been implemented in the context of a business management method for planning, steering and controlling action and corporate strategies. The central element was a 3-step procedure for developing the metric. In stage 1 necessary preconditions for a transformation were considered. Stage 2 is the actual elaboration of the evaluation metric by means of a scenario analysis and stage 3 comprises the exemplary testing at the journal Methods of Information in Medicine. The three methodological steps have primarily resulted in 5 scenarios with 9 different final states from the scenario analysis. Thus, the metric is now composed of these 5 scenarios, which can be used to evaluate the success or failure of a transformation. A list of 65 suitable parameters to measure changes in scenario were compiled. So, it is possible to evaluate the transformation and to find the current final state. Parameters like submissions, publications, and time as well as the scenario states could be applied to the transformation process of the Methods of Information in Medicine journal. The proposed evaluation metric can be used to evaluate the transformation processes of subscription-based journals into open-access-based journals.
It is considered important or even necessary for a continuous exchange of scientific information that all relevant stakeholders can access the inner-scientific communication. The traditional publication model, however, does not provide an inclusive flow of communication but rather favours researchers affiliated with resource-strong institutions, oftentimes located in the Global North. Hence, there are increased efforts to establish an alternative, open access (OA) publication model. Since such a model can only be successful if scientists themselves support and use it, this paper presents a two-tier study examining the factors that might shape scientists’ decision (not) to choose an OA option for disseminating their own work. Based on (semi-)standardized surveys of scientific organizations and individual researchers in the field of biomedical and health informatics, it provides an overview of individual and institutional frame conditions that influence the dissemination and reception of scientific knowledge. In order to account for regional differences, it draws on a global sample, comprising respondents from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North America. Overall, the findings provide a heterogeneous picture of how OA is perceived and practiced. Respondents appreciate the convenient way to access OA articles as readers and the opportunity to reach broader (non-academic) audiences as authors. However, due to high publication fees and concerns regarding quality and reputation, a positive attitude towards OA does not necessarily translate into willingness to choose this publication model. Especially researchers from low-income countries benefit from a barrier-free communication mainly in their role as readers and much less in their role as authors of scientific information. This is also evident at the institutional level, as OA policies or financial support through funding bodies are most prevalent in Europe and North America. These findings call for more attention to inner-scientific communication as part of (science) communication research.
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