Abstract
Background
Open access (OA) publications have changed the paradigm of dissemination of scientific research. Their benefits to low-income countries underline their value; however, critics question exorbitant publication fees as well as their effect on the peer review process and research quality.
Purpose
This study reports on the prevalence of OA publishing in orthopaedic research and compares benchmark citation indices as well as evidence quality derived from OA journals with conventional subscription based orthopaedic journals.
Methods
All 63 orthopaedic journals listed in ISI’s Web of Knowledge Journal Citation Report (JCR) were examined. Bibliometric data attributed to each journal for the year 2012 was acquired from the JCR. Studies that fulfilled the criteria of level I evidence were identified for each journal within PubMed. Individual journal websites were reviewed to identify their open access policy. A total of 38 (60.3 %) journals did not offer any form of OA publishing; however, 20 (31.7 %) hybrid journals were identified which offered authors the choice to publish their work as OA if a publication fee was paid. Only five (8 %) journals published all their articles as OA. There was variability amongst the different publication fees for OA articles. Journals that published OA articles did not differ from subscription based journals on the basis of 2012 impact factor, citation number, self citation proportion or the volume of level I evidence published (p > 0.05).
Conclusions
OA journals are present in orthopaedic research, though in small numbers. Over a third of orthopaedic journals catalogued in the ISI Web of Knowledge JCR® are hybrid journals that provide authors with the opportunity to publish their articles as OA after a publication fee is paid. This study suggests equivalent importance and quality of articles between OA and subscription based orthopaedic journals based on bibliometric data and the volume of level I evidence produced. Orthopaedic researchers must recognize the potential benefits of OA publishing and its emerging presence within the field. Further examination and consensus is required in orthopaedic research to generate an OA system that is robustly regulated and maintains research quality.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
J des Sçavans (1665) ‘L’Imprimeur au lecteur’ i (unpaginated): ‘le dessein de ce Journal estant de faire sçavoir ce qui se passe de nouveau dans la Republique des lettres’
Pallen M (1995) Guide to the Internet. The world wide web. BMJ 311:1552–1556
NIH (2013) List of all journals cited in PubMed®. United States National Library of Medicine. Bibliographic Services Division. U.S National Library of Medicine. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/serfile_addedinfo.html Accessed 1 December 2013
Laakso M, Welling P, Bukvova H, Nyman L, Bjork BC, Hedlund T (2011) The development of open access journal publishing from 1993 to 2009. PLoS ONE 6:e20961
Brand S (1987) The Media Lab: inventing the future at MIT. Viking, New York
Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002)http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read . Accessed 1 December 2013
Bethesda Statement participants (2003) Bethesda Statement on open access publishing. http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/4725199/suber_bethesda.htm?sequence=1 . Accessed 1 December 2013
Wolpert AJ (2013) For the sake of inquiry and knowledge–the inevitability of open access. N Engl J Med 368:785–787
Van Noorden R (2013) Open access: The true cost of science publishing. Nature 495:426–429
Shea N, Prasad V (2013) Open issues with open access publication. Am J Med 126:563–564
Doughty K, Rothman L, Johnston L, Le K, Wu J, Howard A (2010) Low-income countries’ orthopaedic information needs: challenges and opportunities. Clin Orthop Relat Res 468:2598–2603
Cunningham BP, Harmsen S, Kweon C, Patterson J, Waldrop R, McLaren A et al (2013) Have levels of evidence improved the quality of orthopaedic research? Clin Orthop Relat Res 471:3679–3686
Kelly JC, Glynn RW, O’Briain DE, Felle P, McCabe JP (2010) The 100 classic papers of orthopaedic surgery: a bibliometric analysis. J Bone Joint Surg Br 92:1338–1343
Kennedy C, Sullivan OP, Bilal M, Walsh A (2013) Ireland’s contribution to orthopaedic literature: A bibliometric analysis. Surgeon 11(5):267–271
Abbasi K (2012) The debate around open-access publishing. J R Soc Med 105:185
Lefaivre KA, Shadgan B, O’Brien PJ (2011) 100 most cited articles in orthopaedic surgery. Clin Orthop Relat Res 469:1487–1497
Wright JG, Swiontkowski MF, Heckman JD (2003) Introducing levels of evidence to the journal. J Bone Joint Surg Am 85-A:1–3
Clauson KA, Veronin MA, Khanfar NM, Lou JQ (2008) Open-access publishing for pharmacy-focused journals. Am J Health Syst Pharm 65:1539–1544
Schroter S, Tite L (2006) Open access publishing and author-pays business models: a survey of authors’ knowledge and perceptions. J R Soc Med 99:141–148
O’Dowd A (2013) Experts disagree on whether cost of publishing research will fall, as open access grows, MPs hear. BMJ 346:f2502
Albert KM (2006) Open access: implications for scholarly publishing and medical libraries. J Med Libr Assoc 94:253–262
Wellcome Trust (2013) Position statement in support of open and unrestricted access to published research. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/About-us/Policy/Policy-and-position-statements/WTD002766.htm . Accessed on 1 December 2013
Frank M (2013) Open but not free—publishing in the 21st century. N Engl J Med 368:787–789
Ware M, Mabe M (2012) The STM report—an overview of scientific and scholarly journal publishing. The Hague: International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers. http://www.stm-assoc.org/2012_12_11_STM_Report_2012.pdf . Accessed on 1 December 2013
Salem DN, Boumil MM (2013) Conflict of interest in open-access publishing. N Engl J Med 369:491
Haug C (2013) The downside of open-access publishing. N Engl J Med 368:791–793
Data sharing
No additional data is being submitted.
Conflict of interest
All authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sabharwal, S., Patel, N. & Johal, K. Open access publishing: a study of current practices in orthopaedic research. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 38, 1297–1302 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-013-2250-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-013-2250-5