Open access publishing in China: Lessons from the CAST–STM report
China has emerged as the top net contributor to research publications. Meanwhile, open access (OA) publishing has become increasingly vital to research worldwide. As such, Chinese researchers are playing increasingly vital roles in the development shaping the global OA landscape. Given the vital interplay between this large cohort of researchers and the many publishing houses that are based overseas, The Chinese Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and The International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) have collaborated to compile their findings on the current state of OA in China and its prospects.
Background
STM is a global professional organization for the scholarly publishing industry with the mission of advancing the interests of scholarly publishing and communication, while CAST is a non-governmental professional umbrella organization for scientific and technological societies, associations, and institutes in China. In recognition of the growing impact of OA in China, the organizations jointly published a 93-page report titled Open Access Publishing in China 2022 online on December 12.
Key lessons from Open Access Publishing in China 2022
OA has grown rapidly in China; room remains for growth
While both top-down and grassroots initiatives have helped OA to flourish, OA in China has been promoted greatly by the Chinese government. The government recognized the development of OA as early as 2003, when the Ministry of Education launched Sciencepaper Online. Furthermore, in 2014, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, both major national funding agencies, announced that researchers should deposit their research online and make all papers publicly available online within 12 months of their publication. Accordingly, OA has grown quickly in China, with an average annual growth rate of 25.2% in terms of the number of international papers published by authors from 2011 to 2021.
The report shows that Chinese researchers also show good awareness of OA and are willing to publish in the OA paradigm. While the report does not provide a like-for-like comparison between Chinese and international researchers, 16.23% of questionnaire respondents from China had a very good understanding of OA, and 42.42% had a moderate understanding. Furthermore, respondents provided many opinions on the benefits of OA, identifying the increased speed and breadth or research dissemination as being benefits of OA.
Despite this, a lower percentage of Chinese researchers are likely to publish in OA publications compared to the global average; in 2021, 50.3% of papers worldwide were published OA, compared to 37.8% in China. The report does not directly account for this discrepancy; however, there remain substantial differences in OA model depending on whether journals are written in the Chinese or English language, with Chinese-language journals clearly favoring bronze or subscription-only models for OA compared to the trend towards gold OA seen in English-language journals.
China shows an accelerating trend towards gold OA
Gold OA, in which authors pay an article-processing charge (APC) to allow their paper to be made free-of-charge for anybody with an internet connection, has emerged as the most popular mode of OA worldwide, accounting for around 30% of all OA publications worldwide in 2020. China has shown very similar growth trends, with gold OA reaching almost 30% of all publications. Despite differences in the OA landscape, the report’s findings show an increasing consensus around gold OA worldwide. Likewise, there may be increases in so-called diamond or platinum OA journals, which waive all APCs in favor of institutional support or crowdfunding, but it remains to be seen how these will compete with other OA models.
Increasing focus on research integrity
OA offers many clear advantages for researchers, but concerns surrounding research integrity and reputability remain the primary obstacles to the growth of OA publishing.
STM and CAST provide accounts of what has been done to combat academic dishonesty from global and Chinese perspectives, respectively. While the “policing” of open science has largely been a grassroots effort overseas, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China has founded the Department of Science and Technology Supervision and Integrity Construction to prevent and handle breaches in research ethics.
Government bodies in China have also been remarkably proactive in issuing warnings concerning paper mills and predatory journals. Furthermore, China has also extensively used plagiarism-detecting technology, with an impressive 83% of China’s journals using the Academic Misconduct Literature Check program.
Finally, China has invested considerable efforts in implementing version control of published articles and improving archiving and data repositories, such as by establishing the National Digital Preservation Program.
Conclusion
The growing prominence of Chinese academic research means that understanding the publication market and preferences of Chinese researchers is vital for international publishers. The report is an accessible and comprehensive overview of OA both in China and internationally that makes for good reading even if your main interest is in the international OA market.
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