Five reasons to publish Open Access

As a researcher, you’re probably aware of what Open Access (OA) publishing is – publishing your research outputs in a way which can be read by anyone, anywhere in the world.

This can be via either the Gold route of publishing in a title which is available openly to read, or via the Green route of placing your final manuscript in our institutional repository, Adelaide Research and Scholarship, with appropriate open licences.

The University of Adelaide’s Open Access Policy sets out the responsibilities of University researchers when it comes to publishing Open Access, and in the Library we support and advocate for OA. There are many reasons why you should choose to publish your work Open Access, and to celebrate Open Access Week 2023, here are five of them.

1. Open Access publications have the potential to receive higher numbers of citations than those published behind paywalls; if your work is accessible to anyone to read, then you are widening your opportunities to be cited. The Library Research and Engagement Team have used InCites to compare citation rates for University of Adelaide journal articles from 2018 to 2022, and have found that those which are available as Open Access have received an average of 23.21 citations per paper, whilst those which are only available behind a paywall have received 12.22 citations per paper on average (InCites, 12 October 2023).
2. The theme of this year’s Open Access Week is “Community over Commercialisation”, and OA can support that aim of prioritising the social good through breaking down barriers to accessing research outputs; your work can be read by those who are not in a position to get past expensive paywalls, and also the general public (who ultimately fund much research through paying their tax).
3. When you increase the visibility of your research through publishing OA, you increase the potential of it reaching practitioners in industry - again, people who may not have access to journal subscriptions – thereby opening up more opportunities for your research to be used in practice.
4. When your research is more visible and accessible through OA publishing, it can also help you to find potential collaborators for future work; the more people that can read your work, the more opportunity there is for someone to find out about you and what you are doing.  
5. Last but not least…many funders (including the ARC and the NHMRC) mandate how researchers receiving grants from them must publish their research outputs from that grant Open Access. It is very important to be aware of what requirements your funder has around how, where and when you make your work Open, as well as to understand what is mandated under the University’s Open Access Policy, which applies to all University of Adelaide authors.

Do you have questions about publishing Open Access? Take a look at the Library’s OA webpage, and get in touch with your Liaison Librarian if you have any questions.