The profits of free books - an experiment to measure the impact of Open Access publishing
Here you will find the results of an experiment I did on the scientific impact of Open Access publishing on Academic books.
Hopefully you will find it useful.
Last updated: 17 May 2010
Abstract
This paper describes an experiment to measure the impact of Open Access (OA) publishing of academic books. During a period of nine months three sets of 100 books were disseminated through an institutional repository, the Google Book Search program or both channels. A fourth set of 100 books was used as control group. Open Access publishing enhances discovery and online consultation. Within the context of the experiment, no relation could be found between OA publishing and citation rates. Contrary to expectations, OA publishing does not stimulate or diminish sales figures. The Google Book Search program is superior compared to the repository.
Keywords: Open Access publishing, academic books, scientific impact, online dissemination channels, multichannel management.