Does the type of open access matter in research impact in Sub-Saharan Africa? An informetric study, 2012-2021

Abstract

This study examines the publication pattern of open access (OA) and paywalled scholarly works, determines the citations and views impact of publications published through the different forms of OA, and disaggregates the scholarly outputs and impact across the different types of OA in sub-Saharan African countries, in order to assess whether the types of OA matter in research impact in sub-Saharan Africa. Data from the SciVal database, utilising bibliographic, citation, and views data drawn from Scopus, formed the foundation of this study. The research scope encompassed documents published over a decade, from 2012 to 2021. Research output, quantified as the number of publications (papers), constituted the primary focus, while citation-based and views-based metrics were utilised as proxies for measuring research impact. The findings underscore a steady rise in OA scholarly publications, indicating a growing inclination and uptake of OA scholarship within sub-Saharan African nations. Across most sub-Saharan African countries, OA publications comprised over 50% of the total publications. The study discerns a preference hierarchy for OA models: Green OA emerged as the foremost choice, trailed by Gold OA, and Bronze OA, while Hybrid-Gold OA registered as the least favoured model. Notably, publication counts exhibited robust associations with citation and viewing figures, displaying varying strengths in correlation with other citation and viewing metrics.