Self-Selection and the Citation Advantage of Open Access Articles

Abstract: This research examines the relationship between the open access availability of journal papers in anthropology and their citation conditions....We apply a statistical logistic regression model to explore this relationship, and compare two groups of papers – those published in high-ranked journals and those in low-ranked journals, based on journal impact factor – to examine the likelihood that open access status is correlated to scholarly impact....The results reveal that open access papers in general receive more citations. Moreover this research finds that 1) papers in high-ranked journals do not have a higher open access rate, and 2) papers in lower-ranked journals have a greater rate of citations if they are freely accessible....The findings are contrary to the existing theory that the higher citation rate of open access papers is caused by authors posting their best papers online. It is hoped that the results can help electronic publishers and digital project managers to adjust their strategies in open access advocacy.