RE: 8,000 authors favour Open Access and see impact

["Ken Masters" <kmasters@ithealthed.com>]

Hi All

Although I'm in favour of Open Access, Sally's concern is 
spot-on.  If not 'circular', then it certainly only gives one 
half of the story.  The conclusion does briefly note that "The 
survey was conducted amongst a group of authors who are already 
favourably inclined towards Open Access."

Given that only OA authors were polled, I think the title of the 
report is mis-leading.  Perhaps, instead of "Author Attitudes 
Towards Open Access Publishing" it should be "Open Access 
Authors' Attitudes Towards Open Access Publishing"

Regards

Ken

Dr. Ken Masters
Asst. Professor: Medical Informatics
Medical Education Unit
College of Medicine & Health Sciences
Sultan Qaboos University
Sultanate of Oman
E-i-C: The Internet Journal of Medical Education

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: RE: 8,000 authors favour Open Access and see impact
> From: "Sally Morris" <sally@morris-assocs.demon.co.uk>
> Date: Fri, May 20, 2011 6:41 am
> To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
>
> Isn't this a bit circular, if only OA authors were surveyed?
>
> Sally Morris
> South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex, UK  BN13 3UU
> Email:  sally@morris-assocs.demon.co.uk
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> [mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Jennie Johnson
> Sent: 19 May 2011 02:47
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: 8,000 authors favour Open Access and see impact
>
> Dear all,
>
> I thought you might be interested to learn that InTech, an Open
> Access publisher, last week published a White Paper entitled
> 'Author Attitudes towards Open Access Publishing' - making
> available results from a recent survey of over 8,000 authors to
> determine their attitudes towards Open Access.
>
> The benefits of the Open Access (OA) model continue to be debated
> by publishers and librarians, but relatively little research has
> been undertaken to understand the attitudes of researchers. It
> was with this in mind that InTech commissioned TBI to survey its
> 25,000-strong author-base to help better understand researcher
> awareness of and attitudes towards this evolving model. By
> sharing the results of this survey, InTech hopes to dispel some
> of the myths about what researchers truly value relating to OA
> and peer review.
>
> I've copied yesterday's press release below for your information,
> or to read the White Paper and see for yourself the full results
> of the survey, go to:
> http://www.intechweb.org/public_files/Intech_OA_Apr11.pdf
>
> I do hope this is of interest; please let me know if you would
> like any more information.
>
> All best wishes,
>
> Jennie Johnson, TBI Communications
>
> Tel: +44 1865 875896
>
> [SNIP]