OA education 'needed for Chinese researchers'
Chinese researchers need a lot more education on the potential benefits of open access publishing, according to a new industry report.
Geographical Trends in Open Access, published recently by Editage, specifically looks at what researchers from different regions around the world think about open access publishing.
Donald Samulack, the company's president of US operations, wrote in Research Information that the low level of awareness of open access in China is surprising, given that China is now the leading producer of research papers globally and that Chinese agencies have been promoting various forms of open access publishing for several years now.
Samulack wrote: 'With China indicating support for Plan S at the recent Open Access 2020 conference in Berlin, it is clear that a lot more work is required to educate Chinese researchers as to the potential value that publishing in OA journals may offer them, in balance to an academic evaluation system that traditionally has emphasised the quantity of publications in high-impact journals (up until now – although changing – typically subscription-based journals).
'Therefore, while governments, funding bodies, and research institutes are increasingly adopting OA policies and setting up OA mandates – the development of these policies and mandates primarily based on the underpinning principle that publicly-funded research should be universally accessible – whether these policies are implemented effectively may depend, in large measure, on how well those establishing them understand research-specific factors, such as attitudes toward OA and awareness of OA benefits.'
