IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jinfst/v72y2021i9p1099-1112.html

Open is not forever: A study of vanished open access journals

Author

Listed:
  • Mikael Laakso
  • Lisa Matthias
  • Najko Jahn

Abstract

The preservation of the scholarly record has been a point of concern since the beginning of knowledge production. With print publications, the responsibility rested primarily with librarians, but the shift toward digital publishing and, in particular, the introduction of open access (OA) have caused ambiguity and complexity. Consequently, the long‐term accessibility of journals is not always guaranteed, and they can even disappear from the web completely. The focus of this exploratory study is on the phenomenon of vanished journals, something that has not been carried out before. For the analysis, we consulted several major bibliographic indexes, such as Scopus, Ulrichsweb, and the Directory of Open Access Journals, and traced the journals through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. We found 174 OA journals that, through lack of comprehensive and open archives, vanished from the web between 2000 and 2019, spanning all major research disciplines and geographic regions of the world. Our results raise vital concern for the integrity of the scholarly record and highlight the urgency to take collaborative action to ensure continued access and prevent the loss of more scholarly knowledge. We encourage those interested in the phenomenon of vanished journals to use the public dataset for their own research.

Suggested Citation

  • Mikael Laakso & Lisa Matthias & Najko Jahn, 2021. "Open is not forever: A study of vanished open access journals," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 72(9), pages 1099-1112, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jinfst:v:72:y:2021:i:9:p:1099-1112
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.24460
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24460
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/asi.24460?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Meredith T Niles & Lesley A Schimanski & Erin C McKiernan & Juan Pablo Alperin, 2020. "Why we publish where we do: Faculty publishing values and their relationship to review, promotion and tenure expectations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Philippe Mongeon & Adèle Paul-Hus, 2016. "The journal coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: a comparative analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(1), pages 213-228, January.
    3. Christophe Boudry & Ghislaine Chartron, 2017. "Availability of digital object identifiers in publications archived by PubMed," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1453-1469, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maryna Nazarovets & Mikael Laakso & Zehra Taşkın, 2026. "University journals in the global academic publishing landscape: Mapping over 19,000 diverse titles based on Ulrichsweb data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 131(1), pages 703-731, January.
    2. Byczyński, Marcin Jan, 2025. "Global Open Access Repository Infrastructure: Development, Impact, Trends, and Implications for Higher Education," OSF Preprints ztbxq_v1, Center for Open Science.
    3. Niels Taubert & Anne Hobert & Najko Jahn & Andre Bruns & Elham Iravani, 2024. "Understanding differences of the OA uptake within the German University landscape (2010–2020): Part 2—repository-provided OA," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(5), pages 2801-2825, May.
    4. Mikael Laakso & Anna-Maija, 2023. "European scholarly journals from small- and mid-size publishers: mapping journals and public funding mechanisms," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 445-456.
    5. Simon Mahony, 2022. "Toward openness and transparency to better facilitate knowledge creation," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(10), pages 1474-1488, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gabriel Alves Vieira & Jacqueline Leta, 2024. "biblioverlap: an R package for document matching across bibliographic datasets," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 4513-4527, July.
    2. Pingluo Xue & Chongyang Shen & Huaizhi Tang & Yunjia Liu & Yuanfang Huang, 2024. "Knowledge Atlas of Cultivated Land Quality Evaluation Based on Web of Science Since the 21st Century (2000–2023)," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Tripathy, Prajukta & Jena, Pabitra Kumar & Mishra, Bikash Ranjan, 2024. "Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of energy efficiency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    4. Jia, Fu & Guo, Jiguang & Nazrul, Asif & Chen, Lujie & Islam, Nazrul, 2026. "Platformization in operations and supply chain management: A bibliometric-systematic literature review with content analyses," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Florin Achim & Lucian Dinca & Danut Chira & Razvan Raducu & Alexandru Chirca & Gabriel Murariu, 2025. "Sustainable Management of Willow Forest Landscapes: A Review of Ecosystem Functions and Conservation Strategies," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-31, August.
    6. Cibele Oliveira Lima & Jarbas Bonetti, 2020. "Bibliometric analysis of the scientific production on coastal communities’ social vulnerability to climate change and to the impact of extreme events," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 102(3), pages 1589-1610, July.
    7. Saïd Echchakoui, 2020. "Why and how to merge Scopus and Web of Science during bibliometric analysis: the case of sales force literature from 1912 to 2019," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(3), pages 165-184, September.
    8. Maribel Vega-Arce & Gonzalo Salas & Gastón Núñez-Ulloa & Cristián Pinto-Cortez & Ivelisse Torres Fernandez & Yuh-Shan Ho, 2019. "Research performance and trends in child sexual abuse research: a Science Citation Index Expanded-based analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(3), pages 1505-1525, December.
    9. Antonio-José Moreno-Guerrero & María Elena Parra-González & Jesús López-Belmonte & Adrián Segura-Robles, 2022. "Science mapping analysis of “cultural” in web of science (1908–2019)," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 239-257, February.
    10. Luiz Moura & Andre Barcaui & Renan Payer, 2025. "AI and Financial Fraud Prevention: Mapping the Trends and Challenges Through a Bibliometric Lens," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-24, June.
    11. Adela Toscano-Valle & Antonio Sianes & Francisco Santos-Carrillo & Luis A. Fernández-Portillo, 2022. "Can the Rational Design of International Institutions Solve Cooperation Problems? Insights from a Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, June.
    12. Güler Koştı & İsmail Kayadibi, 2025. "A bibliometric analysis of artificial intelligence and machine learning applications for human resource management," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Serhat Burmaoglu & Ozcan Saritas, 2019. "An evolutionary analysis of the innovation policy domain: Is there a paradigm shift?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(3), pages 823-847, March.
    14. Corsini, Alberto & Pezzoni, Michele, 2023. "Does grant funding foster research impact? Evidence from France," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4).
    15. Ruchi Arora & Meera Kapoor & Nidhi Singh & Muhammad Zafar Yaqub, 2025. "Green cryptocurrency and business strategies: Framework and insights from a stewardship literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 804-829, January.
    16. Patrick Röhm, 2018. "Exploring the landscape of corporate venture capital: a systematic review of the entrepreneurial and finance literature," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 68(3), pages 279-319, August.
    17. Alessia Cioffi & Sara Coppini & Arcangelo Massari & Arianna Moretti & Silvio Peroni & Cristian Santini & Nooshin Shahidzadeh Asadi, 2022. "Identifying and correcting invalid citations due to DOI errors in Crossref data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3593-3612, June.
    18. Chavalarias David & Beatrice De Gelder & Guido Caldarelli & Melanie Dulong de Rosnay & Antonio A. Casilli & Alexandre Delanoë & Luisa Fassi & Divina Frau-Meigs & Bertrand Jouve & Andrzej Nowak & Vícto, 2023. "Toward a Research Agenda on Digital Media and Humanity Well-Being," Working Papers hal-04091733, HAL.
    19. Eduardo Machado & Luiz Felipe Scavarda & Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão Caiado & Antonio Márcio Tavares Thomé, 2021. "Barriers and Enablers for the Integration of Industry 4.0 and Sustainability in Supply Chains of MSMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-31, October.
    20. Tom Coupé, 2022. "Who is the most sought‐after economist? Ranking economists using Google Trends," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(2), pages 611-642, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jinfst:v:72:y:2021:i:9:p:1099-1112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.asis.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.