A constant merry-go-round of complexity that faces publishers, researchers, and institutions in the open access (OA) arena centers around the issue of indexing and impact factors. For publishers, sustaining OA journals that are not yet indexed can be nearly impossible, and for researchers, trying to secure funding for publishing in them has its own set of challenges due to institutional and government mandates. But to reserve OA publishing only for highly indexed journals would be a disservice to the research findings and the field.
OA journals need to be able to sustain themselves as the investment of time, resources, and digital tools used to publish content within them all have associated costs. But by charging article processing charges (APCs) to offset all these costs (due to a lack of subscription revenue backing them), even if the APCs are very low, it can become extraordinarily difficult for publishers and editors to pique publishing interest and acquire a high volume of content if the journals are not yet indexed. Bearing in mind that it takes at least two years for journals to be accepted into most prominent indices (including Web of Science and Scopus), the odds are greatly stacked against these journals as they work to mature and increase visibility and usage – especially journals that are newer or in niche areas (an argument that can be made against the validity of impact factors, but we will save that for
another day).
Publishing under OA is one way to increase the accessibility to the research within a journal. According to Open Science, research that is published under OA receives up to an 89% higher download rate and the level of citation increases significantly compared to research that is published traditionally.
So, you would think OA journals should easily be indexed? This is not necessarily true. You can make the content as accessible as possible, but that’s only the first step in this process. The fact that published content is open and accessible without any paywalls should be enough to generate interest and usage, but it goes beyond just making the research available. It is pivotal for authors to share and disseminate their published OA research to their network, institution, and others within their field. As authors are the expert in their field of research, they can identify who would benefit and is most likely to utilize their research. Therefore, by sharing it outward in as many channels are possible, including institutional repositories, subject repositories, personal webpages, ResearchGate, arXiv, Academia.edu, SSRN, or society-sponsored sites, the greater opportunity the article will have to be cited and utilized.
Through the author's efforts coupled with IGI Global’s increased efforts of sharing it (through our own online platform of searchable OA content, international partners, metadata channels, and more), articles can achieve higher discoverability and the overall journal can meet the appropriate requirements for indexing.
The Differences in OA Publishing Models:
- Share the link to your published article and the journal’s webpage through your personal network, websites, social media, and more.
- Recommend the journal of your published article to your library so they integrate the journal and IGI Global’s full collection of OA content into their holdings.
- Post the link to your article and the journal on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and upload it to websites like ResearchGate. Tag @IGIGlobal to be featured on IGI Global’s Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
- Share the link to your article and the journal with relevant associations/organizations.
- Share the published work at conferences and events.
- Integrate your published work into your course syllabi or as a recommended resource.
- Integrate your published work into an institutional repository, subject repositories, and/or any other applicable OA repository.
- Connect your published work with your ORCID iD and other scholarly accounts.
The more authors that publish under OA in lieu of the traditional publishing model, the more content that is openly available for the journal which, upon an increase in usage can easily generate enough citation impact and attention to have it accepted into various prestigious indexes. IGI Global has numerous journals published under hybrid and gold OA that are accepted into the most prominent indices and for those that are not yet, you can bet that as soon as they are eligible, they will be promptly submitted for consideration.
It’s understandable that most researchers may already understand these concepts highlighted above about how increased accessibility = greater citation impact, and thus so desperately want to publish under OA, but either don’t know where to begin or how to secure funding (especially if the journal of their choice is not yet indexed).
Increase the Citation Impact and Discoverability of Your OA Research:
In 2021, IGI Global converted 31 journals to gold OA and one journal to platinum OA (view the press release here). In addition to gold and platinum OA, IGI Global also offers hybrid and green models through this full collection of 140+ scholarly journals that are published under the traditional model. When you are interested in publishing under OA, it is important to understand the differences between these models, as they each provide specific benefits. Find a breakdown of these OA models below:
Publishing Model | About the Model |
Green OA | Follows traditional publishing model but self-archiving by the authors to an institutional or subject repository is permitted. |
Hybrid OA | Authors choose to publish via the traditional, subscription-based model or as an OA article. |
Gold OA | All articles published in the journal are freely accessible. |
Diamond/Platinum OA | Follow Gold OA publishing model, but no APC. Typically requires external funding source. |
IGI Global’s platinum journal, the International Journal of Translation, Interpretation, and Applied Linguistics (IJTIAL), is funded by Shangdong University (Weihai), China.
Every IGI Global journal, besides the 32 converted at the beginning of 2021, have the option to be published under the green/hybrid OA models. Authors have the option with these journals to publish as OA, or under the standard subscription-based model. IGI Global operates a liberal Fair Use Policy which supports authors in their endeavors to share their published research.
In addition to journal OA publishing, IGI Global also offers a variety of book options, either publishing a full book manuscript under OA, or individual book chapters.
OA Funding Opportunities and Read & Publish Waivers:
For those authors who are unable to easily secure funding for OA publishing in the journal of their choice they can consider looking into different APC discount and waiver programs, especially those offered by publishers such as IGI Global:
- IGI Global’s Transformative Read and Publish Model: A wonderful option if your institution does not have OA funding already but does happen to have an electronic resources budget. This program provides a source of OA funding to institutions that invest in IGI Global’s e-book or e-journal collections. Under this initiative, when a library invests in IGI Global's InfoSci-Books, InfoSci-Journals, or a subset of these collections, IGI Global will match the library’s investment with a fund of equal value to go toward subsidizing the OA article processing charges (APCs) and OA book processing charges (BPCs) for their students, faculty, and staff at that institution when their work is submitted and accepted under OA (following peer review) into an IGI Global journal or book. Learn More About This Model >
- IGI Global Author Services APC Deduction: Any time an author utilizes any of IGI Global’s Author Services on their manuscript, IGI Global will deduct the amount spent on the services from the OA APC. Learn More About IGI Global
Author Services > - Editor-in-Chief APC Waivers: Any Editor-in-Chief of an IGI Global journal receives two APC waivers to publish under OA in IGI Global journals.
- Special Issue APC Waivers: Guest Editors with special issues in process for any gold OA journal receive two APC waivers to utilize in their special issues.
- Developing Country APC Discounts and Waivers: Authors residing in developing countries can benefit from either a 50% discount off the OA APC or a full waiver. Authors can consult the OA publishing page for the full list of eligible countries. View IGI Global’s OA Publishing Page >
- Occasionally, IGI Global will also offer limited-time discounts or waivers for manuscripts covering a specific topic area. There are so many opportunities to take advantage of OA publishing and greater citation impact for your work.
Should you be interested in publishing in an IGI Global gold or hybrid OA journal, please browse our Call for Papers page.
For more guidance and information about OA, we recommend reading this published piece by Clarivate (Web of Science), "A Researcher’s Complete Guide to OA Papers, and to reach out to IGI Global's Open Access Team at openaccessadmin@igi-global.com with any OA-related inquiries.
About IGI Global
Founded in 1988, IGI Global, an international academic publisher, is committed to producing the highest quality research (as an active full member of the Committee on Publication Ethics “COPE”) and ensuring the timely dissemination of innovative research findings through an expeditious and technologically advanced publishing process. Through their commitment to supporting the research community ahead of profitability, and taking a chance on virtually untapped topic coverage, IGI Global has been able to collaborate with over 150,000+ researchers from some of the most prominent research institutions around the world to publish the most emerging, peer-reviewed research across 350+ topics in 11 subject areas including business, computer science, education, engineering, social sciences, and more.
Learn More About IGI Global >
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