The Icelandic Open Access Barometer 2013
peter.suber's bookmarks 2013-12-30
Summary:
Abstract: In September 2013, we surveyed journals published in Iceland and found that 51 of
them could be classified as “scholarly,” publishing quality-controlled research that aims to
contribute to general knowledge. Of these 51 journals, 16 were completely open, with articles
available for digital download from the moment of publication; 20 were completely behind toll
barriers (published only on paper and sold to libraries and subscribers); and the remaining 15
released their articles openly in digital form after an embargo period of varying length. No
journals offered online subscriptions. The relatively large penetration of open access in Iceland
was a welcome surprise. Interestingly, more than three-quarters of the journals surveyed pub
lished primarily in Icelandic. Many of the embargoed journals made articles available on the
website timarit.is, which has limited facility for whole-article downloads; the issue of convenient
archival repositories for Icelandic journal content appears to need attention.