How Countries are Leading in Open Access Publishing: Lessons for India

This is the second article from the series "Case Study in Scholarly Publishing: The India Story"

Explore the growth journey of India's scholarly publishing landscape. From overcoming challenges to achieving milestones, this case study dives into the numbers, key takeaways, suggestions, and key players propelling India to the forefront of global research. Discover how a nation is redefining its future of publishing.

Please read the first article here - Scaling New Heights: India's Rise in the World of Research Publications

In the previous article, we reviewed India's performance in comparison to 10 other countries globally. The data indicated that India is gradually increasing its publication output, reaching the 3rd position in 2023, just behind China and the United States. As promised, we will dig deeper into the status of Open Access (OA) publications in this article. But first, let's understand various OA terminologies.

What is Open Access?

Open Access is a publishing model for scholarly research that makes information immediately available to the readers at no additional cost, allowing it to be freely reused for scholarly purposes. Open Access categories are defined by a few color-codes:

Gold: Open Access journals provide immediate access to all to the articles published.

Green: The published final version of the journal remains behind a subscription paywall on the journal website, but a version of the paper is available to anyone from the repository.

Bronze OA: Bronze open access involves making articles freely accessible immediately upon publication, but with some restrictions.

Hybrid: Open Choice, where certain articles are behind the paywall and certain are made freely available

Global Open Access Publishing Output

In our previous article, we compared the overall publishing output in the top 10 countries, with India ranking 3rd. However, when we analyze the data specifically for Open Access (OA) and closed publishing, the landscape changes significantly. In 2023, the top 6 countries published a total of 2.9 million articles, with 1.5 million (51%) being Open Access. Of these 1.5 million OA articles, 750K (26%) were published in Gold OA, 300K (11%) in Hybrid, 260K (9%) in Green OA, and 145K (5%) in Bronze OA.

The United States, China, and India each published about 50% of their articles as OA and 50% as closed. In contrast, the UK, Germany, and Italy published around 80% of their articles as OA and 20% as closed. Interestingly, India published more Gold OA articles in 2023 than the UK, Germany, and Italy. However, when considering overall OA publishing, India does not rank among the top 5 countries. In 2023, India was ranked 6th in OA publishing.

A country-wise contribution chart shows that in overall OA publishing, the United States leads with 32%, followed by China at 30%. The United Kingdom contributes 13%, Germany 10%, Italy 8%, and India 7%.

India’s overall publishing output has grown by 46% over the past five years. During this period, “Closed” publishing increased by 47%, while overall Open Access (OA) grew by 45%. Among the types of OA, Hybrid publishing saw a 60% increase, Gold OA grew by 50%, Green OA by 31%, and Bronze OA by 18%. The significant rise in Hybrid publishing is partly due to the lower number of articles published in this category in 2019 and 2020 compared to other types. This trend indicates that many authors still choose to publish behind a paywall rather than opting for OA.

However, there is a positive shift: Green OA is decreasing while Gold OA is increasing. This suggests that authors who publish OA are gradually preferring Gold OA over Green OA.

The data underscores a crucial point: authors need to prioritize OA over closed publishing. Why? Because Open Access is the future of scholarly research.

Key Learnings for India

India’s improvement in Open Access (OA) rankings is promising, but there are several strategies from leading countries that India can adopt to further enhance its OA landscape:

1. Strengthening Policy Frameworks

Adopting a robust national OA policy, similar to the UK's ‘Plan S,’ can ensure that all publicly funded research is accessible. Encouraging research institutions to implement OA mandates will foster a culture of openness. The UK’s strong policy framework, supported by prominent funders like the Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Wellcome Trust, requires OA for the research they support. The UK's commitment to ‘Plan S,’ which mandates that all publicly funded research be published in compliant OA journals, has further bolstered its OA standing.

2. Increasing Funding and Support

Leading countries like Germany and the US focus on transformative agreements with publishers and university-level agreements to shift subscription journals to OA models. More substantial financial support for OA publication fees, similar to the US and Germany, will alleviate the burden on researchers. Dedicated funding programs for OA, backed by government agencies and private institutions, can provide the necessary resources. Funding agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) mandate OA for the research they support. The German Research Foundation (DFG) supports OA through funding programs that cover publication costs. Additionally, publishers are responding to market demand by launching membership models in Gold OA publishing.

3. Transparent Policy-making

Institutions and the government need to identify opportunities to partner with global publishers. Leading countries have acknowledged that giving all stakeholders a seat at the table can ensure better policy-making. Involving publishers in the policy-making process can enhance transparency, providing both publishers and the government with a clearer picture of each other's perspectives. Committees like COPE (Committee of Publication Ethics) exemplify such collaborations, where publishers and the academic community come together to promote education on publishing ethics.

4. Promoting Awareness and Advocacy

Many researchers in India still equate paying for publishing with predatory journals, highlighting the need for OA literacy. Raising awareness about the benefits of OA among researchers, policymakers, and the public is crucial. Workshops, seminars, and advocacy campaigns can emphasize the importance of OA, encouraging more researchers to publish their work openly.

By adopting these strategies, India can further strengthen its position in the global OA landscape, making scholarly research more accessible and driving innovation.

Conclusion

India's journey in research publication is commendable, having secured 3rd place globally in 2023. However, a closer look at Open Access (OA) versus closed publishing shows that although 50% of India's publications are OA, it ranks only 6th in overall OA output. How can India bridge this gap and rise further in the OA rankings?

One approach is to strengthen policy frameworks similar to the UK's ‘Plan S,’ ensuring that all publicly funded research is accessible. Can adopting such policies make a significant impact on India's OA landscape? Increasing funding and support for OA publication fees, following the examples of the US and Germany, could alleviate financial burdens on researchers. Would dedicated funding programs make OA a more attractive option for Indian researchers?

Moreover, transparent policy-making that includes all stakeholders, including global publishers, can enhance the effectiveness of OA initiatives. How can India foster better collaboration and transparency in its policy-making processes? Promoting awareness and advocacy about OA benefits is also crucial. Could raising OA literacy among researchers dispel misconceptions and drive more open publishing? By addressing these questions and adopting proven strategies, India can solidify its position in the global OA landscape, making scholarly research more accessible and driving innovation.

In our next article we will look at where India is publishing - publishers, areas and content.