Publication times and costs in Open Access journals: A thematic analysis of the Scopus–DOAJ ecosystem | JLIS.it

Abstract:  The expansion of open access has positioned Article Processing Charges (APCs) and publication times as key dimensions for understanding the functioning of the scholarly publishing system. This study aims to characterise both components in scientific journals that are simultaneously indexed in Scopus and listed in DOAJ, identifying patterns by subject area and quartile. Data from Scopus, the 2024 SJR and DOAJ were integrated, considering only active journals with available information on average time to publication and APCs. The analysis, descriptive in nature, examined the distribution of these indicators across subject areas and editorial levels. The results show that publication times are similar among journals within the same subject area but differ when comparing different subject areas, whereas publication costs display larger differences in the upper quartiles and tend to decrease in the lower ones, with parallel trajectories in Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Health Sciences and a differentiated pattern in Social Sciences. The study provides an updated empirical characterisation of how temporal stability and economic stratification coexist within a broad segment of the open access ecosystem.