The open access advantage considering citation, article usage and social media attention

Xianwen Wang (), Chen Liu, Wenli Mao and Zhichao Fang
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Xianwen Wang: Dalian University of Technology
Chen Liu: Dalian University of Technology
Wenli Mao: Dalian University of Technology
Zhichao Fang: Dalian University of Technology

Scientometrics, 2015, vol. 103, issue 2, No 12, 555-564

Abstract: Abstract In this study, we compare the difference in the impact between open access (OA) and non-open access (non-OA) articles. 1761 Nature Communications articles published from 1 January 2012 to 31 August 2013 are selected as our research objects, including 587 OA articles and 1174 non-OA articles. Citation data and daily updated article-level metrics data are harvested directly from the platform of nature.com. Data is analyzed from the static versus temporal-dynamic perspectives. The OA citation advantage is confirmed, and the OA advantage is also applicable when extending the comparing from citation to article views and social media attention. More important, we find that OA papers not only have the great advantage of total downloads, but also have the feature of keeping sustained and steady downloads for a long time. For article downloads, non-OA papers only have a short period of attention, when the advantage of OA papers exists for a much longer time.

Keywords: Article-level metrics; Usage metrics; Altmetrics; Open access; Social media attention; Open access advantage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (53)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-015-1547-0

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