Open access survey June 2014 | Australian Policy Online

"In the first few months of 2014 Taylor & Francis carried out a worldwide survey, with the aim of exploring journal authors’ views on open access. Having previously conducted a survey on open access in 2013, we have been able to see how authors’ opinions have developed, and whether the discussion and debate on open access has helped to inform and shape views. With responses to both the 2013 and 2014 survey given side-by-side, you can easily see how attitudes have changed. Alongside this, the 2014 survey explores many new areas and gives a fascinating insight into authors’ current perceptions of open access. The survey asked authors a series of questions on their perceptions of open access; their attitudes, values and understanding of it; and what they believe the future of research to be. The report offers some intriguing shifts in opinions, with responses from the 2014 survey placed next to those from 2013 to show how views have changed, and to what degree. Positivity towards open access continues to grow, with significant increases in the proportions strongly agreeing that open access offered a wider circulation than publication in a subscription journal (from 38% to 49%), and that it offered higher visibility (27% to 35%). 70% of respondents also disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement ‘There are no fundamental benefits to open access publication’, an increase of 10% year-on-year and a strong indicator that open access continues to be viewed as a force for good. Authors also gave their views on the value of types of peer review when publishing open access, on repositories, their future intention on open access publishing, and on licensing. ..."