Access to scientific literature in India

Patrick Gaulé

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2009, vol. 60, issue 12, 2548-2553

Abstract: This article uses an evidence‐based approach to assess the difficulties faced by developing country scientists in accessing scientific literature. I compare the backward citation patterns of Swiss and Indian scientists in a database of 43,150 scientific papers published by scientists from either country in 2007. Controlling for fields and quality with citing journal fixed effects, I find that Indian scientists have shorter reference lists (−6%) and are more likely to cite articles from open access journals (+50%). Moreover, the difference in the length of the reference list is more pronounced in biology and medicine, where circulation of (free) preprints and conference proceedings is non‐existent. Informal file‐sharing practices among scientists mitigate the effects of access restrictions.

Date: 2009
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21195

Related works:
Working Paper: Access to the scientific literature in India (2009)
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:bla:jamist:v:60:y:2009:i:12:p:2548-2553

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1532-2890

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology from Association for Information Science & Technology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().