Latin American publication on Open Science: analysis of scientific journals

Abstract:  Introduction:  Open Science has driven changes in scientific production and communication, with Latin America leading the way in adopting these initiatives.

Objective:  This study aims to investigate the journals used as vehicles for Latin American scientific publication on Open Science. More specifically, it aims to a) analyze the access model and editorial typology of scientific journals, b) compare these characteristics according to the indexing database and the country of origin of the journals, and c) identify the scientific journals that concentrate the largest number of Latin American publications on Open Science.

Methodology:  The research universe consists of 1,687 scientific articles with at least one author linked to Latin American institutions, which addressed Open Science and/or its facets and were indexed in the SciELO Citation Index and/or Web of Science Core Collection databases.

Results:  The articles were published in 858 scientific journals, of which 39.86% adopt the diamond open access model and 34.15% adopt the hybrid access model. In Web of Science, 57.58% of the journals are from commercial publishers and 40.36% adopt the hybrid model. SciELO, in turn, presents 72.64% of the journals edited by Higher Education Institutions and 89.15% under the diamond open access model.

Conclusion:  This points to the relevance of the diamond open access model for the research corpus. The use of the two databases made it clear that, in a way, authors reproduce different behaviors depending on the spaces they occupy and the strategic positions that these require of their publications.