1. Publication Transformation: Why Authors Choose to Publish in Open Access/Free Full-text Journals Stefanie E. Warlick UNC-CH Health Sciences Library Sunday, May 21, 2006

2. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Introduction Why this study? Increasingly ‘hot topic’ among university librarians, faculty, and administrators Search in PubMed (limit to 2003-2005) UNC-CH authors = over 1,004 OA articles Identify factors that may fuel or stunt author support of open access publishing models Better understand the steps necessary to encourage future authorship in OA publications

3. Publication Transformation Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI): “free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles…without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited.” Definition

4. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation What does the literature show us? Research on author attitudes towards OA expanding Author identified factors most meaningful and significant in publishing decisions: –In general - prestige, type of research, speed (Rowlands, et al., 2004) –In OA - free access, speed, wide audience (Swan & Brown, 2004)

5. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Methods Exploratory research study Biomedical faculty @ Duke and UNC-CH Seventeen interview questions E-mail recruitment Responses (in-person, phone, email) Responses transcribed and coded by PI Qualitative analysis using ATLAS.ti

6. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Interview Results 14 interviews granted and completed 6 in-person, 2 phone, 6 e-mail Professor status – 4 Assistant – 4 Associate – 6 Full Departmental affiliations of participants: Medicine, Biology, Public Health

7. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation How do you decide where to submit your articles for publication? Deciding factors in order of frequency: Impact Factor7 Target audience6 Prestige4 Topic3 Cost2 Speed of publication2 Quality 2 Visibility2 Open access status2

8. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Motivating factors for OA in order of frequency: Free access9 Visibility3 Speed2 Antipathy (traditional publishers)2 When target audience general1 What is your motivation for publishing in an OA venue?

9. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Are there any incentives for you to publish in an open access venue? Open access incentives in order of frequency: Audience accessibility7 Broad exposure5 Not that I know of4 Retain copyright3 Rapid dissemination2 UNC covers fees1 Reviewer comments posted1 High quality publications1

10. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Are there any disincentives associated with publishing in an OA venue? Open access disincentives in order of frequency: Cost5 Publication not highly respected 4 Few venues3 Not that I know of3 Lower impact factor1 Concerns for own career1 Concerns for career of their students1 Lack of OA support from institution1

11. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Were you responsible for paying author fees? Yes 11 No 2 Can’t recall 1 Grants 11 N/A 3 If so, where did the funding come from?

12. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Additional Findings How important is impact factor? –Quite (8); Moderately (3); Not a factor (3) Does speed of publication influence your choice? –Yes (13); No (1) Does your department make a official statement regarding OA? – No (8); Not that I know of (5); Yes, for (1) Commentary suggests copyright retention is a low priority for many of the authors Authors often first interested in OA because of article requests from colleagues and vocal individuals within their academic department

13. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Conclusions For UNC-CH & Duke biomedical faculty authors: Publication quality most important when choosing venues in general Free access and visibility important motivating factors and incentives for OA Speed of publication and copyright retention are unlikely points of OA promotion Author fees are unlikely barriers, but frequently noted as a known disincentive

14. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Discussion Analysis attempted to gain insight into author publishing decisions and trends Responses will be used to target future initiatives New knowledge helps proponents focus efforts on meaningful factors for a specific population Possible benefit to participants: –Increased awareness of library interest in OA –Opportunity to think critically about current attitudes

15. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Limitations Small population Large & well-funded research institutions Findings may not be applicable elsewhere Future research Limit interviews to true-OA authors Limit interviews to non-OA authors Recruit larger participant pool to identify institutional differences

16. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation Special thanks to: K.T. Vaughan & Carol Jenkins, UNC-CH Health Sciences Library Ginger Carden & Pat Thibodeau, Duke University Medical Center Library Dr. Jeffrey Pomerantz, UNC-CH School of Information and Library Science

17. Title of Presentation Publication Transformation References Budapest Open Access Initiative. (2002). Retrieved March 26, 2006, from http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/boaifaq.htm#openaccess http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/boaifaq.htm#openaccess Rowlands, I., & Nicholas, D. (2005). Scholarly communication in the digital environment: The 2005 survey of journal author behaviour and attitudes. Aslib Proceedings, 57(6), 481-497. Rowlands, I., Nicolas E., & Huntingdon, P. (2004). Scholarly communication in the digital environment: What do authors want? Learned Publishing, 17(4), 261-273. Swan, A., & Brown, S. (2004). JISC/OSI journal authors survey report. Truro, UK: Key Perspectives Ltd. Retrieved March 26, 2006, from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/ACF655.pdf http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/ACF655.pdf Vaughan, K., Warlick, S., Jenkins, C., Carden, V., Thibodeau, P. (2005). Open Access Publishing Patterns: A Snapshot of Two Academic Medical Centers. MAC/MLA Annual Meeting Poster Presentation, Charlottesville, VA. Retrieved May 5, 2006, from http://www.cbil.vcu.edu/mac/events/2005/warlick.pdf http://www.cbil.vcu.edu/mac/events/2005/warlick.pdf Warlick, S. (2006). Publication Transformation: Why Authors Choose to Publish in Open Access/Free Full-text Journals. A Master’s Paper for the M.S. in L.S. degree, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science. Retrieved May 5, 2006, from http://etd.ils.unc.edu/dspace/bitstream/1901/299/1/stefaniewarlick.pdf http://etd.ils.unc.edu/dspace/bitstream/1901/299/1/stefaniewarlick.pdf