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15.10.2024 10:50
Multidisciplinary research project shows: COVID-19 pandemic has no impact on scientific publication behavior
The multidisciplinary BMBF research project “OASE – Open Access Effects” examined the influence of open access publishing on scientific impact. Although the COVID-19 pandemic led to a short-term increase in preprints and increased visibility on social media, it did not have a significant impact on long-term publishing behavior. The results show that institutional open access guidelines and external influences such as the pandemic influence researchers’ publication decisions less than expected. Scientific publishing behavior has proven to be stable and resilient to external shocks.
The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed work processes worldwide: working from home, flexible work locations, virtual meetings and digital collaboration platforms became the new norm from one day to the next. Against this background, the question arose as to whether the publishing behavior of researchers would respond to these profound changes in a similarly volatile manner.
The BMBF-funded research project “Open Access Effects” (OASE), carried out by the ZBW – Leibniz Information Center for Economics and the GESIS – Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences, investigated this question. Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Isabella Peters and Dr. Philipp Mayr, the researchers examined whether and how open access and preprints impact scientific impact and what role the COVID-19 pandemic played on publication decisions. Contrary to the assumption that the pandemic could have a significant impact on publication strategies, the results showed a different picture: publication practice in research is proving to be surprisingly resistant to external shocks and remains largely stable in the long term.
The study results suggest that open access, including the publication of preprints, is strongly influenced by the established norms and practices of the respective disciplines. Although external events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have influenced publishing behavior in the short term, long-term transformation is slow and depends on many factors.
You can download an illustration of the research results here:
It also showed that open access policies of institutions and funders had less influence on researchers’ publication decisions than expected. There is also a positive relationship between open access and the use of scientific articles, measured by citations and altmetric indicators.
The results of the “OASE – Open Access Effects” project make it clear that the disciplinary culture of academic publishing is robust to external changes. Nevertheless, it appears that researchers are willing to adapt their publication strategies, especially when there are advantages such as faster dissemination of research results.
Further information about the project and the results can be found here: https://www.zbw.eu/en/research/web-science/open-access-effects
An interview with two scientists from the BMBF research project, Kristin Biesenbender (ZBW) and Dr. You can listen to Philipp Mayr (GESIS) here: https://podcast.zbw.eu/fos/2024/07/18/fos-41-auswirkungen-von-open-access-publik…
About the “OASE” project:
The “Open Access Effects” project examined the influences of open access on scientific impact across various disciplines from March 2018 to February 2023. Bibliometric methods were used to analyze both traditional and altmetric indicators to deepen the understanding of open access publishing practices. Management: Prof. Dr. Isabella Peters (ZBW) and Dr. Philipp Mayr (GESIS). Employees: Kristin Biesenbender and Dr. Nicholas Fraser (ZBW), Fakhri Momeni (GESIS). The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
About the ZBW:
The ZBW – Leibniz Information Center for Economics (ZBW) is the world’s largest information infrastructure for economics. The facility houses around 4 million media units and provides access to millions of online economic documents. In addition, the ZBW provides a rapidly growing collection of open access documents. EconStor, the digital publication server, currently has over 280,000 freely accessible articles and working papers. With EconBiz, the specialist portal for specialist economic information, students or researchers can research over 11 million data sets. The ZBW also publishes the two economic policy journals Wirtschaftsdienst and Intereconomics in Gold Open Access. The ZBW is a research-based scientific information infrastructure. With professorships in computer science, economics and information science and their international doctoral group, the ZBW deals with the topic of open science in a transdisciplinary manner. The ZBW is internationally networked in its research. The main cooperation partners come from DFG and BMBF projects as well as from the Leibniz Strategy Forum Open Science. The ZBW is part of the Leibniz Association and foundation under public law. URL: www.zbw.eu
Media contact:
DR. DOREEN SIEGFRIED
Press spokesperson
ZBW – Leibniz Information Center for Economics
Düsternbrooker Weg 120, 24105 Kiel
T: +49 [0] 431. 88 14-455
M: +49 [0] 0172. 251 48 91
E: d.siegfried@zbw.eu
Scientific contacts:
Prof. Dr. Isabella Peters (ZBW)
Dr. Philipp Mayr (WHISPER)
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