A Crisis in 'Open Access': Should Communication Scholarly Outputs Take 77 Years to Become Open Access?

SAGE Open, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1-8, 2019

15 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2021

See all articles by Abbas Ghanbari Baghestan

Abbas Ghanbari Baghestan

University of Tehran; Universiti Science Malaysia

Hadi Khaniki

Allameh Tabataba'i University - Department of Communication

Abdolhosein Kalantari

University of Tehran

Mehrnoosh Akhtari-Zavare

Islamic Azad University, Department of Public Health

Elaheh Farahmand

University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling

Ezhar Tamam

University Putra Malaysia

Nader Ale Ebrahim

University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture; Centre for Research Services, Institute of Management and Research Services (IPPP), University of Malaya (UM)

Havva Sabani

International VISION University

Mahmoud Danaee

University Malaya

Date Written: August 29, 2019

Abstract

This study diachronically investigates the trend of the “open access” in the Web of Science (WoS) category of “communication.” To evaluate the trend, data were collected from 184 categories of WoS from 1980 to 2017. A total of 87,997,893 documents were obtained, of which 95,304 (0.10%) were in the category of “communication.” In average, 4.24% of the documents in all 184 categories were open access. While in communication, it was 3.29%, which ranked communication 116 out of 184. An Open Access Index (OAI) was developed to predict the trend of open access in communication. Based on the OAI, communication needs 77 years to fully reach open access, which undeniably can be considered as “crisis in scientific publishing” in this field. Given this stunning information, it is the time for a global call for “open access” by communication scholars across the world. Future research should investigate whether the current business models of publications in communication scholarships are encouraging open access or pose unnecessary restrictions on knowledge development.

Keywords: communication, open access, WSIS, UNESCO, Budapest Open Access Initiative, business model of publishing, Open Access Index (OAI)

JEL Classification: L11, L1, L2, M11, M12, M1, M54, Q1, O1, O3, P42, P24, P29, Q31, Q32, L17

Suggested Citation

Ghanbari Baghestan, Abbas and Khaniki, Hadi and Kalantari, Abdolhosein and Akhtari-Zavare, Mehrnoosh and Farahmand, Elaheh and Tamam, Ezhar and Ale Ebrahim, Nader and Ale Ebrahim, Nader and Sabani, Havva and Danaee, Mahmoud, A Crisis in 'Open Access': Should Communication Scholarly Outputs Take 77 Years to Become Open Access? (August 29, 2019). SAGE Open, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1-8, 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3911585

Abbas Ghanbari Baghestan

University of Tehran ( email )

Amirabad e shomali, kuye daneshgah e Tehran
Tehran, UT Tehran 5433174616
Iran
00989125038068 (Phone)

Universiti Science Malaysia ( email )

Pinang
Malaysia

Hadi Khaniki

Allameh Tabataba'i University - Department of Communication

Tehran, 1489684511
Iran

Abdolhosein Kalantari

University of Tehran ( email )

Amirabad e shomali, kuye daneshgah e Tehran
Tehran, UT Tehran 5433174616
Iran

Mehrnoosh Akhtari-Zavare

Islamic Azad University, Department of Public Health ( email )

Tehran, Tehran 43400
Iran

Elaheh Farahmand

University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling ( email )

Malaysia

Ezhar Tamam

University Putra Malaysia ( email )

Selangor Darul Ehsan
Serdang, Selangor 43400
Malaysia

Nader Ale Ebrahim (Contact Author)

Centre for Research Services, Institute of Management and Research Services (IPPP), University of Malaya (UM) ( email )

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
University of Malaya (UM)
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
Malaysia

HOME PAGE: http://https://umresearch.um.edu.my/

University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture ( email )

Kuala Lumpur, 50603
Malaysia

Havva Sabani

International VISION University ( email )

Macedonia

Mahmoud Danaee

University Malaya ( email )

Level 14, Wisma R&D, University of Malaya Jalan Pa
KL, RI KL 59990
Malaysia
0060173601650 (Phone)

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