Does open access publishing increase citation or download rates?

"The effect of "Open Access" (OA) on the visibility or impact of scientific publications is one of the most important issues in the fields of bibliometrics and information science. During the past 10 years numerous empirical studies have been published that examine this issue using various methodologies and viewpoints. Comprehensive reviews and bibliographies are given amongst others by OPCIT, Davis and Walters and Craig et al. The aim of this article is not to replicate nor update these thorough reviews. Rather, it aims to presents the two main methodologies that were applied in these OA-related studies and discusses their potentialities and limitations. The first method is based on citation analyses; the second on usage analyses." Posted by stevehit to oa.advantage oa.impact oa.new on Tue May 29 2012