Going Open Access sees big jump in people reading IDS Bulletin

"IDS’ flagship publication, the IDS Bulletin, was re-launched as a open access journal in January 2016. The re-launch saw the production of the publication brought back in-house and a new purpose-built website was launched which would host all new issues as well as the entire archive, going back 48 years. One year later, statistics show a huge jump in article downloads from 77,000 to 393,000 and increased social media shares....

Formerly co-published with Wiley Blackwell, the world’s second largest journal publisher, the decision to take the IDS Bulletin back in-house and make it open access was part of a broader drive at IDS to improve engagement with our and our partners’ research by academic, practitioner and policy audiences. “Flipping” from a subscription-based to open access journal would make the IDS Bulletin more widely available to non-academic audiences and as well as researchers globally, including from countries such as India who cannot access journals through initiatives such as the Research4Life.

Downloads have increased by more than fivefold since going open access

Statistics found that total article downloads for the IDS Bulletin had increased from 77,000 in 2015 to 393,000 in 2016 - more than fivefold from when the journal was still subscription-based, whilst Altmetrics (which tracks online conversations about research) figures showed that articles are also being regularly shared on social media...."