Open Access Citation Advantage: An Annotated Bibliography

Ben Wagner's recent publication considers and weighs the evidence on the OA citation impact advantage.

Key findings: the overwhelming weight of the evidence suggests a strong OA citation impact advantage, with a download differential found across studies averaging at least 100%, followed by a citation impact differential of between 25-250% in favour of open access for the majority of studies, and particularly for larger studies, with a minority of studies finding no effect. Possible explanations for these anomalies include small sample size (one study refers to an a statistically insignificant OA impact advantage), disciplinary citation patterns, and failure to allow sufficient time to observe the citation impact difference. As the author points out - NO studies found a citation disadvantage for OA.

Article: Wagner, A. Ben. "Open Access Citation Advantage: An Annotated Bibliography" (Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Winter 2010), available at:
http://www.istl.org/10-winter/article2.html