Scholars and their publishers have in common the search for readers. In an information ecosystem inundated by books, journals and social media, readers, too, are always on the hunt for relevant and accessible publications.
Interview with Christina Emery
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | Download
Earlier this year, Springer Nature – a long-time publisher of Open Access books — turned to Collaborative Open Access Research & Development (COARD) to learn better where OA books are read, and how patterns of usage between OA and non-OA books differed between countries and regions. The recently-released study results show that Open Access books bring researchers and readers together in greater numbers and across a wider range of countries.
Springer Nature began a first pilot for OA books publication in 2011. In 2020, the publisher released its 1000th OA book, and the titles have seen 100 million chapter downloads across a wide range of disciplines in Science, Technology, Medicine, and the Humanities and Social Sciences.
An important question for Springer Nature and the COARD researchers was whether OA publication indeed led to increased readership in countries that are traditionally underrepresented in the production and use of scholarly research, explains Christina Emery, marketing manager for Springer Nature’s open access books program.
“The main headlines are that Open Access books do show a higher diversity of geographical usage. In fact, they reach 61% more countries. And they have a greater proportion of usage in a wider range of countries,” she tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
“But importantly, OA books are increasing access and usage for low-income and lower-middle-income countries, including a high number of countries in Africa,” Emery continues. “Looking at usage specifically, Open Access books have ten times more downloads and 2.4 times more citations than non-OA books on average.”
