SoylentNews

quietus [soylentnews.org] writes:

Are you looking for something more titillating to read than the usual low-brow stuff you find here at soylentnews?

You might just be in luck, as MIT Press has released an impact report about its Direct-To-Open (D2O) program, under which faculty members do not publish with pay-for-play journals and publishers anymore, but release [some of] their good stuff directly to the public.

Next to lots of happy geeks directly downloading [mit.edu] juicy titles like Model Systems in Biology, Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy and No Heavenly Bodies: A History of Satellite Communications Infrastructure, MIT claims that "D2O has exceeded expectations in its first three years, and we’re thrilled to share the impact.”

To date, D2O has funded 240 books: 159 in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) and 81 in science, technology, engineering, art/design, and mathematics (STEAM). The data show that, on average, open-access HSS books in the program are used 3.75 times more and receive 21 percent more citations than their paywalled counterparts. Open-access books in STEAM fields are used 2.67 times more and receive 15 percent more citations than their non-open counterparts, on average. Regardless of their field, D2O books are making meaningful contributions to debates both within and beyond the academy.

Books in the program have on average a little over 3,000 downloads, compared to the few hundred they'd normally get if hidden behind a paywall.

The whole program [mit.edu] isn't completely free though: it is funded by libraries which agree to pay recurring participation fees. In exchange, these libraries also get access to the previously published MIT Press products, which remain gated.

Original Submission