Open access publishing in Indian premier research institutions

Introduction. Publishing research findings in open access journals is a means of enhancing visibility and consequently increasing the impact of publications. This study provides an overview of open access publishing in premier research institutes of India. Method. The publication output of each institution from 2003 to 2007 was ascertained through Scopus and the name of source journals along with the number of publications recorded. All 4232 journal titles were searched in the Directory of Open Access Journals and then using the Google search engine to find out which journals are openly accessible. Analysis. The data are tabulated and analysed in a systematic way to reveal findings in accordance with desired objectives. Results. The 17,516 research articles are contributed by the five institutions and appear in 4232 journals. The Indian Institute of Science publishes 8.26% of its research output in open access journals, All India Institute of Medical Sciences 19.37%, Baba Atomic Research Centre 4.84%, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 3.04% and Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 3.26%. Conclusions. The study reveals that a small portion of research publications of Indian research institutes is published in open access journals, the majority in journals of Indian origin. The medical institutions are contributing more of their publications to open access journals compared to other institutions.