This study diachronically investigates the trend of the “open access” in the Web of Science (WoS) category of “communication.” To evaluate the trend, data were collected from 184 categories of WoS from 1980 to 2017. A total of 87,997,893 documents were obtained, of which 95,304 (0.10%) were in the category of “communication.” In average, 4.24% of the documents in all 184 categories were open access. While in communication, it was 3.29%, which ranked communication 116 out of 184. An Open Access Index (OAI) was developed to predict the trend of open access in communication. Based on the OAI, communication needs 77 years to fully reach open access, which undeniably can be considered as “crisis in scientific publishing” in this field. Given this stunning information, it is the time for a global call for “open access” by communication scholars across the world. Future research should investigate whether the current business models of publications in communication scholarships are encouraging open access or pose unnecessary restrictions on knowledge development. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019871044

1. aleebrahim@Gmail.com
@aleebrahim
www.researcherid.com/rid/C-2414-2009
http://scholar.google.com/citations
Nader Ale Ebrahim, PhD
Research Visibility and Impact Consultant
23rd August 2019
All of my presentations are available online at:
https://figshare.com/authors/Nader_Ale_Ebrahim/100797
A Crisis in “Open Access”: Should
Communication Scholarly Outputs
Take 77 Years to Become Open Access?
Research Visibility and Impact Center-(RVnIC)
©2019-2021 Dr. Nader Ale Ebrahim

2. Abstract
This study diachronically investigates the trend of the “open access” in the Web of
Science (WoS) category of “communication.” To evaluate the trend, data were
collected from 184 categories of WoS from 1980 to 2017. A total of 87,997,893
documents were obtained, of which 95,304 (0.10%) were in the category of
“communication.” In average, 4.24% of the documents in all 184 categories were
open access. While in communication, it was 3.29%, which ranked
communication 116 out of 184. An Open Access Index (OAI) was developed to
predict the trend of open access in communication. Based on the OAI,
communication needs 77 years to fully reach open access, which undeniably can
be considered as “crisis in scientific publishing” in this field. Given this stunning
information, it is the time for a global call for “open access” by communication
scholars across the world. Future research should investigate whether the current
business models of publications in communication scholarships are encouraging
open access or pose unnecessary restrictions on knowledge development.
Keywords communication, open access, WSIS, UNESCO, Budapest Open Access
Initiative, business model of publishing, Open Access Index (OAI)
Research Visibility and Impact Center-(RVnIC)
©2019-2021 Dr. Nader Ale Ebrahim 2

3. A Crisis in “Open
Access”: Should
Communication
Scholarly Outputs Take
77 Years to Become
Open Access?
Research Visibility and Impact Center-(RVnIC)
©2019-2021 Dr. Nader Ale Ebrahim 3

4. 87,997,893 documents which
were obtained from all 184
categories of the Web of
Science Core collection,
84,274,416 (95.76%) were non-
Open Access and 3,723,504
(4.24%) were Open Access
Research Visibility and Impact Center-(RVnIC)
©2019-2021 Dr. Nader Ale Ebrahim 4

5. Figure 1. Trends of publications in the Web of Science category: Communication 1980-2017.
DOI: (10.1177/2158244019871044)

6. Note. OA = open access.
DOI: (10.1177/2158244019871044)

7. Table 1. Comparison Between OA and Non-OA Documents Based on Type of Documents.
DOI: (10.1177/2158244019871044)

8. Table 2. Top 20 Countries for OA Publications from 2007 to 2017.
DOI: (10.1177/2158244019871044)

9. Table 3. Comparison Between OA and Non-OA Documents Based on Languages.
DOI: (10.1177/2158244019871044)

10. Note. OAI = Open Access Index.
DOI: (10.1177/2158244019871044)

11. Note. OAI = Open Access Index.
DOI: (10.1177/2158244019871044)

12. Much is left to be
desired in Open
Access communication
development
Research Visibility and Impact Center-(RVnIC)
©2019-2021 Dr. Nader Ale Ebrahim 12

13. The “communication” scholarly
outputs consist of a very small
portion of the total outputs in
all 184 categories in WoS, its
degree of “accessibility” is
much less than average, ranked
at 116 of 184.
Research Visibility and Impact Center-(RVnIC)
©2019-2021 Dr. Nader Ale Ebrahim 13

14. Thank you!
Research Visibility and Impact Center-(RVnIC) ©2019-2021 Dr.
Nader Ale Ebrahim
E-mail: aleebrahim@Gmail.com
Twitter: @aleebrahim
www.researcherid.com/rid/C-2414-2009
http://scholar.google.com/citations
All of my presentations are available online at:
https://figshare.com/authors/Nader_Ale_Ebrahim/100797
14

15. References
1. A. Ghanbari Baghestan, H. Khaniki, A. Kalantari, M. Akhtari-Zavare, E.
Farahmand, E. Tamam, N. Ale Ebrahim, H. Sabani, and M. Danaee, “A Crisis in
“Open Access”: Should Communication Scholarly Outputs Take 77 Years to
Become Open Access?,” SAGE Open, vol. 9, no. 3, SAGE Open.
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019871044
My recent publication:
1. Ale Ebrahim, S., Ashtari, A., Pedram, M. Z., & Ale Ebrahim, N. (2019). Publication Trends in Drug Delivery and Magnetic Nanoparticles.
Nanoscale Research Letters, 14(59). doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-019-2994-y
2. Parnianifard, A., Azfanizam, A., Ariffin, M., Ismail, M., & Ale Ebrahim, N. (2019). Recent developments in metamodel based robust
black-box simulation optimization: An overview. Decision Science Letters, 8(1), 17-44. doi:10.5267/j.dsl.2018.5.004. Available at SSRN:
https://ssrn.com/abstract=3192794
3. Elaish, M. M., Shuib, L., Ghani, N. A., Mujtaba, G., & Ale Ebrahim, N. (2019). A Bibliometric Analysis of M-Learning from Topic Inception
to 2015. International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 13(1), 91-112. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMLO.2019.096470
4. Nordin, N., Samsudin, M.-A., Abdul-Khalid, S.-N., & Ale Ebrahim, N. (2019). Firms’ sustainable practice research in developing
countries: Mapping the cited literature by Bibliometric analysis approach. International Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management,
7(1/2). doi:. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSSM.2019.099036
5. Hussein, M. H., Ow, S. H., Loh, S. C., Thong, M.-K., & Ale Ebrahim, N. (2019). Effects of Digital Game-Based Learning on Elementary
Science Learning: A Systematic Review. IEEE Access, 7(1), 62465-62478. doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2916324
My recent presentations:
1. Ale Ebrahim, Nader (2019): Introduction to “Research Tools”: Tools for Collecting, Writing, Publishing, and Improving Research
Visibility. figshare. Presentation. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.8258957.v1
2. Ale Ebrahim, Nader (2018): Publishing Procedure and Strategies to Improve Research Visibility and Impact. figshare. Presentation.
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7475036.v1
3. Ale Ebrahim, Nader (2018): Scientific Misconduct. figshare. Presentation. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7471988.v1
4. Ale Ebrahim, Nader (2018): Collecting, Writing, and Publishing via “Research Tools”. figshare. Presentation.
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7472273.v1
5. Ale Ebrahim, Nader (2018): New Tools for Measuring Research Impact. figshare. Presentation.
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7441403.v1
Research Visibility and Impact Center-(RVnIC)
©2019-2021 Dr. Nader Ale Ebrahim 15