Research on Open Access monographs – a short review

DFG-Workshop „Open Access für wissenschaftliche Monografien“ - 9/5/2012

Ronald Snijder

Contents

• Research based on books by Amsterdam University Press– The profits of free books – OA in developed and developing countries

• Research based on OAPEN:– User needs report – OAPEN-NL pilot – OAPEN-UK pilot– Scholarly and scientific impact

Books by Amsterdam University Press (1/2)

“The profits of free books: an experiment to measure the impact of open access publishing ”http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/20100403

• Quantitative research; 2010• 400 books – 300 in OA; 100 control titles• Equal data sets: subject; language; print run etc.

• Main conclusions:– OA enhances discovery and usage – expected – OA has no influence on sales – unexpected

Books by Amsterdam University Press (2/2)

Open Access in developed and developing countries(article under review)

• Quantitative research; 2012• Based on same data set: English language books• 180 books – 137 in OA; 43 control titles

• Conclusions:– Developing countries profit more from OA:

percentage of discovery and usage is significant higher

Research based on OAPEN: User needs report

“Digital Monographs in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Report on User Needs”http://bit.ly/J300K6

• Qualitative research; 2010• Interviews with 40 experts; two round table discussions; survey on 250

scholars

• Main conclusions:– Most important to stakeholders:

• Accessibility and dissemination• Quality

– Economic viability of monograph publishing is threatened

Research based on OAPEN:OAPEN-NL pilot

OAPEN-NL pilotwww.oapen.nl

• Evaluate OA publication model; publishing 50 OA monographs• Qualitative and quantitative; 2010-2013• Stakeholder surveys: authors; publishers• Analysis of calculations: costs of OA monographs• Research on discovery; usage; sales:

– 94 books – 49 in OA; 45 control titles

• Conclusions (based on interim report):– Publishers: OA calculation is probably correct; doubts on financial

sustainability– Authors: optimistic about scholarly impact of OA

OAPEN-NL calculation

OA - Peer review; 278.571428571429; 2%OA - Platform; 104.054054054054; 1%

OA - Marketing; 288.235294117647; 2%OA - Editing; 2121.44736842105;

13%

OA - Type setting; 1774.23684210526; 11%

OA - Overhead; 1348.31578947368; 8%

OA - Direct costs; 1780.35714285714; 11%

OA - Royalties; 119.428571428571; 1%Cover; 487.096774193548; 3%

Print costs; 2881.68421052632; 18%

Distribution; 1566.60526315789; 10%

Print - Overhead; 851.034482758621; 5%

Print - Direct costs; 782.380952380952; 5%

Print - Marketing; 507.545454545455; 3%

Print - Royalties; 1060; 7%

Print costs: € 8.136 (51%)OA costs: € 7.815 (49%)

Research based on OAPEN:OAPEN-UK pilot (1/2)

OAPEN-UK pilothttp://oapen-uk.jiscebooks.org/

• Qualitative and quantitative; 2010-2015• Stakeholders: publishers; research councils;

authors; researchers and institutions• Research on discovery; usage; sales:– 58 books – 29 in OA; 29 control titles

• First year results on next slide

Research based on OAPEN:OAPEN-UK pilot (2/2)

OAPEN-UK pilothttp://oapen-uk.jiscebooks.org/

First year results, key issues for each stakeholder:• Institutions: long-term availability of content; metadata and discovery; functionality; financial

issues• Publishers: business models; brand and platforms; users’ needs; consistency; standards &

costs • Academics: what matters to academics; formats and rights; drivers for change; barriers to

change• HSS funders: future of monographs; funding and business models; transitions and drivers /

barriers; quality; benefits of an OA model• Learned societies: business models and income streams; quality; international issues; rights• e-book aggregators: should aggregators get involved; opportunities; barriers; quality

assurance• Research managers: who pays?; change in academic cultures; research funding

• Measuring usage by several stakeholders• Quantitative; 2011-2012• Large amount of data:– 859 monographs– 25,000 downloads – 1,500 providers

Research based on OAPEN:scholarly and scientific impact (1/3)

Research based on OAPEN:scholarly and scientific impact (2/3)

Academic (National)4.71%

Academic (International)23.11%

Non-profit (National)0.19%

Non-profit (International)0.72%

Government (National)0.30%

Government (International)1.95%

Business (National)0.20%

Business (International)0.98%

Uncertain (National)0.61%

General public (National)8.83%

Uncertain (International)26.61%

General public (International)31.79%

Downloads OAPEN Library - 2011

• Test of method: used data is just a fraction of all downloads!• The last 12 months:

– Almost 192,000 unique visitors– More than 301,000 books downloaded

Research based on OAPEN:scholarly and scientific impact (3/3)

More on OAPEN:• www.oapen.org• www.oapen.nl• www.oapen-uk.jiscebooks.org• Twitter:@Oapenbooks

Directory of Open Access Books:• www.doabooks.org• Twitter: @Doabooks

Contact me:• r.snijder@aup.nl• Twitter: @Ronaldsnijder

Thank you!