The Effect of Open Access on Scholarly and Societal Metrics of Impact in the ASHA Journals

Publication
Open Access
Authors
Affiliations

Helen Long

Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Lee Drown

University of Connecticut

Mariam El Amin

University of Georgia

Published

June 20, 2023

Doi

https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00315

Abstract
Purpose: The present study examined the effect of open access (OA) status on scholarly and societal metrics of impact (citation counts and altmetric scores, respectively) across manuscripts published in the ASHA Journals.
Method: 3,419 manuscripts published in four active ASHA journals were grouped across three access statuses based on their availability to the public: Gold OA, Green OA, and Closed Access. Two linear mixed-effects models tested the effects of OA status on citation counts and altmetric scores of manuscripts.
Results: Both Green OA and Gold OA significantly predicted a 2.70 and 5.21 respective increase in citation counts compared to Closed Access manuscripts (p < .001). Gold OA was estimated to predict a 25.7-point significant increase in altmetric scores (p < .001), but Green OA was only marginally significant (p = 0.068) in predicting a 1.44 increase in altmetric scores relative to Closed Access manuscripts.
Discussion: CSD research that is fully open receives more online attention and overall, more scientific attention than research that is paywalled or available through Green OA methods. Additional research is needed to understand secondary variables affecting these and other scholarly and societal metrics of impact across studies in CSD. Ongoing support and incentives to reduce the inequities of OA publishing are critical for continued scientific advancement.



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