[Paper Review] Statistics on Open Access Books Available through the Directory of Open Access Books

Keita Tsuji|arXiv (Cornell University)|Aug 4, 2018

scientometrics and bibliometrics research14 references3 citations

TL;DR

This study analyzes 10,866 open access (OA) books from the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) as of February 2018, examining their distribution by subject, language, publisher, publication year, and licensing. It reveals accelerating growth in OA book availability, with Social Sciences, Science, and World History being the most represented subjects, English as the dominant language, and 'CC BY' and 'CC BY-NC-ND' as the most common licenses, urging libraries to adopt OA books more widely.

ABSTRACT

Open Access (OA) books available through the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) are investigated and the number of titles, the distribution of subjects, languages, publishers, publication years, licensing patterns, etc., are clarified. Their chronological changes are also shown. The sample comprised 10,866 OA books, which were available through the DOAB as of February 24, 2018. The results show that OA books are increasing in number at an accelerating rate. As for distribution of subjects, Social Sciences ("H" in the Library of Congress Classification [LCC] codes), Science ("Q" in LCC) and World History and History of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc. ("D" in LCC) are the most popular. As for languages, English, French, and German are the most popular. As for publishers, Frontiers Media SA, Presses universitaires de Rennes, and ANU Press are the most popular. Many books are newly published ones, but older books, published in or before 1999, also began to be available recently. As for the licensing patterns, "CC by-nc-nd" and "CC by" are the most popular. Considering these tendencies, libraries should begin to utilize OA books.

Motivation & Objective

• To analyze the current state of open access (OA) books available through the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB).
• To identify trends in subject distribution, language usage, publisher contributions, publication years, and licensing patterns of OA books.
• To assess the chronological growth of OA books in DOAB and evaluate implications for academic libraries.
• To provide data-driven insights to support library integration of OA books into collections and services.

Proposed method

• The study collected data on 10,866 OA books listed in DOAB as of February 24, 2018.
• Data was categorized by Library of Congress Classification (LCC) codes to analyze subject distribution.
• Languages, publishers, publication years, and licensing types (e.g., Creative Commons) were systematically extracted and analyzed.
• Trends over time were assessed by examining the chronological distribution of book publications.
• Statistical analysis was used to identify the most frequent categories in each dimension (e.g., top subjects, top languages, top publishers).
• The study compared newly published books with older titles (published in or before 1999) to assess historical inclusion.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What is the current distribution of OA books across academic subjects as classified by LCC codes?
• RQ2 Which languages are most commonly used in DOAB's OA books, and how has this distribution evolved?
• RQ3 Which publishers contribute the most OA books to DOAB, and what are their publication patterns?
• RQ4 What are the dominant licensing models used for OA books in DOAB, and how have they changed over time?
• RQ5 To what extent are older books (published in or before 1999) included in the DOAB collection?

Key findings

• The number of OA books in DOAB is increasing at an accelerating rate, indicating growing momentum in open access publishing.
• Social Sciences (LCC 'H'), Science (LCC 'Q'), and World History (LCC 'D') are the most represented academic subjects.
• English, French, and German are the three most commonly used languages in DOAB's OA book collection.
• Frontiers Media SA, Presses universitaires de Rennes, and ANU Press are the top three publishers contributing to DOAB.
• The most prevalent licensing models are 'CC BY' and 'CC BY-NC-ND', indicating strong use of Creative Commons licenses.
• A notable number of older books, including those published in or before 1999, have recently become available through DOAB, suggesting improved archival inclusion.