Open access journals are getting more number of readers and then citations than close access ones.

An answer touching the surface of this question could be 'yes' for someone since OA journals increase the visibility of their contents than non-OA journals. However, an answer for the question could depend on factors like subject domain or there could be a clear pattern at all. For example, a research in Eclogy (https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10.1139/facets-2016-0032) shows a correlation between citations and journal being an OA one. In contrast, another research in Conservation Biology (https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01509.x) argues the opposite. There could be more examples with contradictory results. Thus, in my view, it is not that easy to give a straight answer for the question without having evidence from large scale research (large sample, multiple disciplines separately, distinct article types, etc.).

The research on this area did not show that articles published in Open Access journals are cited higher than similar articles published in non-open access journals.

I recommend reading this article, it gives you more information and explanation.

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/patrickgaule/files/open_access_proofs.pdf

Dear Colleagues Manjula and Azer

Find here my heartfelt thanks for your valuable comments which are informative.

Regards

Dear Bachir Achour ,

As said already by Manjula Wijewickrema your question cannot be answered in a straightforward fashion. The matter is highly depended on factors like the kind of scientific discipline, article types, degree of novelty and potential impact of certain papers etc. This explains the somewhat contradictory results as can be found in the literature.

Indeed, as indicated by Samy Azer another factor is what kind of open access you talk about. In the paper referred to by Samy Azer the conclusion is that authors use the open access option in hybrid journals when they estimate their paper to be of higher quality. This corresponds pretty much with the conclusion drawn in the following paper:

Piwowar, H., Priem, J., Larivière, V., Alperin, J. P., Matthias, L., Norlander, B., ... & Haustein, S. (2018). The state of OA: a large-scale analysis of the prevalence and impact of Open Access articles. PeerJ, 6, e4375.

https://peerj.com/articles/4375/?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_campaign=PeerJ_TrendMD_0&utm_medium=TrendMD

where the observed 18% more citations than average for open access papers compared to closed papers is an effect driven primarily by Green and Hybrid OA.

Obviously, open access has other advantages then a (possible) citation increase like more transparency, free accessible for everyone interested, increased visibility and an attempt to break the monopoly of a few big players that dominate the world of academic publishing and had the tendency to increase their (subscription and/or license) prices in a seemingly unlimited manner.

Best regards.

Open access journals are getting more number of readers and then citations than close access ones.

Open access publications are very likely to be cited more than close access

Open access science articles are read and cited more often than articles available only to subscribers, a study has suggested.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/home/open-access-papers-gain-more-traffic-and-citations/2014850.article

Self-selected or mandated, open access increases citation impact for higher quality research.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0165551519865489

Article Do Open Access Articles Have Greater Citation Impact? A Crit...

Yes because they are available to all

Not in the developing countries, I think. There is a greater inclination to use pirating platforms as a means of access to the content of subscription-based journals in the developing countries.

Dear Rob Keller,

Thank you very much for your contribution and your insights. Reading the various comments received, I understand the situation much better.

Thank you all for your information

Manjula Wijewickrema , Samy Azer , Rob Keller , Emad Kamil Hussein , Chinaza Godswill Awuchi , Abdul Kuddus, Berhanu Abraha Tsegay , Milad Shirvaliloo

The answer is yes

Yes, open access journal with both print and online versions are more accessible, readable and thereby more citable than the rest.

Thank you very much for your feedback

Paul Olusegun Bankole , Chinaza Godswill Awuchi , Sumanta Chakraborty

yes

Dear Hussein,

Thank you very much for your answer

In fact, the quality matters but still articles are also accessible to many when at open access and high chance for being cited.

Thank you very much Berhanu Abraha Tsegay I totally agree with you.

Chances are higher as they render scope to get better access to articles. Many a times paid journals are not accessible to many and are mostly restricted to academic libraries. What's more, even on RG, people though showcase their papers but many a times even they don't upload the published articles and then one needs to 'request' for published articles and it is the wish of the worker concerned whether he sends you the paper or not.

So, its simple, that these days open access journals are on better side where one gets an array of fairly written articles on various subjects.

Atul Kohli Thank you very much for your contribution and for your clear answer.

Many open access journals continue to increase the volume of publication exponentially every year. They may overshoot the publication output of journals without open access. Therefore, the number of citations can be expected to overtake.

Researchers from developing and underdeveloped countries will become pauper if they choose to publish in open access journals. A reputed journal in our field switched to mandatory open access mode couple of years ago. The open access fee is equivalent to half a year savings. We can not afford to pay. No funding agency or sponsor exists in our country. Open access is the worst business model of publishers.