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Do articles in open access journals have more frequent altmetric activity than articles in subscription-based journals? An investigation of the research output of Finnish universities

Author

Listed:
  • Kim Holmberg

    (University of Turku)

  • Juha Hedman

    (University of Turku)

  • Timothy D. Bowman

    (Wayne State University)

  • Fereshteh Didegah

    (Simon Fraser University)

  • Mikael Laakso

    (Hanken School of Economics)

Abstract

Scientific articles available in Open Access (OA) have been found to attract more citations and online attention to the extent that it has become common to speak about OA Altmetrics Advantage. This research investigates how the OA Altmetrics Advantage holds for a specific case of research articles, namely the research outputs from universities in Finland. Furthermore, this research examines disciplinary and platform specific differences in that (dis)advantage. The new methodological approaches developed in this research focus on relative visibility, i.e. how often articles in OA journals receive at least one mention on the investigated online platforms, and relative receptivity, i.e. how frequently articles in OA journals gain mentions in comparison to articles in subscription-based journals. The results show significant disciplinary and platform specific differences in the OA advantage, with articles in OA journals within for instance veterinary sciences, social and economic geography and psychology receiving more citations and attention on social media platforms, while the opposite was found for articles in OA journals within medicine and health sciences. The results strongly support field- and platform-specific considerations when assessing the influence of journal OA status on altmetrics. The new methodological approaches used in this research will serve future comparative research into OA advantage of scientific articles over time and between countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Holmberg & Juha Hedman & Timothy D. Bowman & Fereshteh Didegah & Mikael Laakso, 2020. "Do articles in open access journals have more frequent altmetric activity than articles in subscription-based journals? An investigation of the research output of Finnish universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(1), pages 645-659, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:122:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-019-03301-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-019-03301-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Jane Cho, 2021. "Altmetrics analysis of highly cited academic papers in the field of library and information science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(9), pages 7623-7635, September.
    6. Tahereh Dehdarirad & Kalle Karlsson, 2021. "News media attention in Climate Action: latent topics and open access," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(9), pages 8109-8128, September.
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    8. Dmitry A. Ruban & Natalia N. Yashalova & Olga A. Cherednichenko & Natalya A. Dovgot’ko, 2020. "Climate Change, Agriculture, and Energy Transition: What Do the Thirty Most-Cited Articles Tell Us?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, September.
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