In a significant stride towards advancing open access in academia, the Hybrid Open Access Dashboard (HOAD) has been unveiled as an innovative data analytics tool, aimed at empowering academic libraries and consortia. Developed by the State and University Library Göttingen and supported by funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG), HOAD ingeniously integrates open data from Crossref, OpenAlex, and the cOAlition S Journal Checker Tool to visually demonstrate the evolving shift of hybrid journal portfolios within transformative agreements towards full open access.
HOAD presents a dynamic user interface replete with interactive charts and tables, which offer insight into the openness status of over 12,500 hybrid journals affiliated with 400+ transformative agreements. These records are derived from meticulously curated and publicly accessible data within the cOAlition S Journal Checker Tool. The dashboard empowers users with the ability to explore and analyze hybrid journal portfolios of diverse publishers, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of the landscape. Additionally, HOAD allows users to contrast the worldwide hybrid journal scenario with the situation in Germany dating back to 2017.
One of HOAD's significant attributes is its capability to showcase the adoption of hybrid open access across various Creative Commons (CC) licenses over time. The tool provides a comparison of license types offered by publishers. Notably, the visualization reveals that Springer Nature predominantly favors the CC BY license, aligning with Plan S principles, while Elsevier and Wiley's hybrid journals continue to employ the more restrictive CC BY-NC-ND license for a substantial portion of articles.
HOAD further equips users to explore disparities in open access adoption across different countries. The data showcases that authors from the United States, China, and India exhibit a lesser propensity to publish open access in hybrid journals compared to their European counterparts. In contrast, countries like Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Germany boast significantly higher open access shares, likely attributed to the widespread implementation of transformative agreements.
The tool also addresses the availability of openly accessible metadata. Users can identify publishers that provide comprehensive metadata for their open access articles through Crossref. By illuminating gaps, HOAD aids library consortia in monitoring and advocating for improved open metadata within transformative agreements.
The development of HOAD involved engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders. Publishers provided valuable feedback on enhancing metadata, particularly concerning open licenses. To facilitate data reuse, a download option for tables and charts has been introduced. Furthermore, the tool's transparency and reproducibility are upheld through openly accessible data and computational procedures.
As transformative agreements face a pivotal juncture with cOAlition S's planned cessation of financial support and the ongoing gradual shift towards open access, comprehensive monitoring tools like HOAD take center stage. While the project's funding phase concludes, a steadfast commitment to maintaining up-to-date data prevails. The project invites community participation through Github, fostering dialogues with national library consortia and stakeholders for tailoring HOAD to specific needs.
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