What Motivates Authors of Scholarly Articles? The Importance of Journal Attributes and Potential Audience on Publication Choice

Carol Tenopir, Elizabeth Dalton, Allison Fish, Lisa Christian, Misty Jones and MacKenzie Smith
Additional contact information
Carol Tenopir: School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Elizabeth Dalton: School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Allison Fish: School of Informatics and Commuting, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Lisa Christian: School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Misty Jones: School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
MacKenzie Smith: University Library University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA

Publications, 2016, vol. 4, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: In this article we examine what motivations influence academic authors in selecting a journal in which to publish. A survey was sent to approximately 15,000 faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers at four large North American research universities with a response rate of 14.4% ( n = 2021). Respondents were asked to rate how eight different journal attributes and five different audiences influence their choice of publication output. Within the sample, the most highly rated attributes are quality and reputation of journal and fit with the scope of the journal; open access is the least important attribute. Researchers at other research-intensive institutions are considered the most important audience, while the general public is the least important. There are significant differences across subject disciplines and position types. Our findings have implications for understanding the adoption of open access publishing models.

Keywords: scholarly communication; publishing; authorship; open access; journals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A2 D83 L82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/4/3/22/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/4/3/22/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jpubli:v:4:y:2016:i:3:p:22-:d:74156

Access Statistics for this article

Publications is currently edited by Ms. Jennifer Zhang

More articles in Publications from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().