Project Description

We, a team of researchers from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the Ludwig-Maximilans-Universität Munich, Germany, are conducting a research project in the area of Open Access and Science Publishing.

Our research interest is centered on the question if and why scientists decide or do not decide to publish their work according to the Open Access principle without access barriers and free of cost to readers.

Even though the idea of providing Open Access to scientific publications seems to be very much appreciated in the scientific communities of various disciplines, still e. g. only about 1-2% of the journals listed in Thomson ISI citation databases provide Open Access.

Based on a newer theory from the field of technology adoption, the "Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology" (Venkatesh et al. 2003), we developed an instrument to identify supporting as well as inhibiting factors towards the further diffusion of the Open Access idea among researchers.

We also provide recommended courses of action that can be deduced from the findings.

Inter alia, we are investigating:

• Researchers' current level of experince in accessing and publishing Open Access literature
  
  
• Future intentions to publish in Open Access outlets
  
  
• Scientists' attitudes toward the Open Access idea
  
  
• The expected performance of Open Access publications in relevant dimensions (citation rates, reach, ...)
  
  
• The influence of colleagues on the individual decision for/against Open Access publishing
  
  
• Necessary conditions and support for Open Access publishing