More citation with open access journals?

Nico Keilman (Photo: Bjarne Røsjø) Nico Keilman, a demographer and professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Oslo, took over as editor of the Internet-based journal Demographic Research (DR) in 2006. His experience with this mode of publication has been mostly positive. DR is a free, peer-reviewed, open access journal published by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany.

"All contact between editorial staff, writers and peer reviewers takes place electronically. Manuscripts are sent by e-mail to the peer reviewers, who then write their comments via a website. The accepted articles are then published on an ongoing basis, which speeds up the publication process," explains Professor Keilman.

Also accessible to researchers in developing countries

(Photo: Shutterstock) "The free-of-charge principle was not the most important consideration when the journal was launched, but its impact cannot be underestimated. For example, it is vital that our fellow demographers at universities and research institutes in developing countries, who do not have access to expensive journals, have access to the latest research findings," states Professor Keilman.

The Max Planck Institute provides funding for about two full-time positions per year at the journal, and Keilman devotes about one day a week to his work as editor. "This means that I have less time to write my own scientific articles, but that is just how the system works. As a young researcher I gained a lot from reading the comments of more experienced colleagues, and now it is nice to be able to give something back. Moreover, holding the position of editor keeps me up-to-date with developments. But naturally, those of us who work as editors or peer reviewers cannot use the findings we learn about until they are published," he says.

Published continuously

The journal receives some 200-250 manuscripts each year, and Professor Keilman immediately sorts out the articles that obviously do not meet quality standards. Those that pass this first round of scrutiny are sent out for peer review. About 70-80 articles are published in the journal annually. "We publish as soon as articles are accepted. In addition, we print a limited number of article collections. There are still a number of libraries that want to have a print version of annual volumes," he explains.

Professor Keilman sees open access publishing as a good alternative to the traditional, privately-owned, expensive methods of publication. "It has also become more usual for researchers to publish preliminary findings in the form of working papers. I do not know how the commercial publishing houses will meet this challenge, but it is clear that the Internet presents an effective alternative mode of publication," he states.

Professor Keilman can see no disadvantages with open access publishing. "What disadvantages could there be?" he asks. "We carried out an evaluation in 2007 which showed that the journal is well-respected in its field. The citation indexes and impact factor of the web-based journals are completely on a par with those of the printed journals," he says.

Wood is the main component in the 60 million tons of paper that are produced annually for use in newspapers and magazines. (Photo: Shutterstock)

- True, I belong to a generation that loves to sit down with a newspaper, and at the beginning I was a little hesitant to read articles only on the screen, but now it is fine. After all, we need to think about the trees, too," adds Professor Keilman.