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

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  • 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
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.

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