Open access publishing in gastroenterology: good for the researcher and good for the public! | Frontline Gastroenterology

"Citation metrics can be important aspect of academic impact, with data on citation metrics of open access vs non-open access publications being variable. We reviewed the effect of open access publishing on citation metrics in the field of gastroenterology. We reviewed original research articles in Gut, Gastroenterology and the American Journal of Gastroenterology (AJG). Publications were cross referenced with the Web of Science database to determine overall citation rates.

Between January 2009 and December 2013, 3057 original research articles were published (Gastroenterology (n=1431), Gut (n=732), AJG (n=894)). Of these, 154 (5.0%) were open access publications (Gastroenterology (n=13), Gut (n=70), AJG (n=71)). The proportion of open access publications was different between journals (p<0.001). The variation may have been due to different article processing charges requested by publishers, with open access publication rates known to be variable, dependent on publisher.5 Overall, open access publications in the three journals had significantly higher citation rates than non-open access publications (median citation rate: 38.5 vs 33, p=0.044), highlighting the benefits of open access publishing in the field of gastroenterology (table 1)...."