*Apologies for cross-posting*

Dear all,

I thought you might be interested to learn that InTech, an Open Access
publisher, has today published the results of a survey appraising
attitudes and awareness of the research community towards the Open
Access (OA) business model in scholarly publishing.

While the Open Access (OA) model debate rages on in the realm of
publishers and librarians, it has taken much longer for awareness of
the model to filter down to the author community – who should
eventually stand to gain most from the barrier‐free access to their
work that OA brings with it. Evaluating the awareness and attitudes of
researchers and authors towards OA, the InTech white paper - “Open
Access: Awareness and Attitudes amongst the Author Community” - is
based on both a review of current research and a survey sent to over
20,000 STM researchers worldwide.

I've copied today's press release below for your information, or to
read the White Paper and see for yourself the full results of the
survey, go to:http://www.intechweb.org/js/ckeditor/kcfinder/upload/files/InTech_WhitePaper_FutureofOA_Dec11.pdf

I do hope it's of interest; please let me know if you would like any
further information.

All best wishes,

Jennie Johnson, TBI Communications
Tel: +44 1865 875896

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

//Research shows growing awareness and uptake of Open Access
publishing by authors//

Today InTech, an Open Access publisher, has published the results of a
survey appraising attitudes and awareness of the research community
towards the Open Access (OA) business model in scholarly publishing.

The InTech white paper: “Open Access: Awareness and Attitudes amongst
the Author Community”, is based on a review of current research and a
survey sent to 20,000 STM researchers worldwide. The survey attracted
an overall response rate of 1.3%, with 275 participants taking part
and 253 (92%) completing it. The majority of respondents were
researchers (75%) based at a university (70%). The data was sourced
from an independent provider of contact data for the research
community (Mardev).

/Key findings:/

       High levels of awareness of Open Access - of 258 participants
who responded when asked, 51% said they understood OA publishing, and
36% said they had some knowledge of it

       OA publishing experience is lower but still strong - 26% said
they had published with an OA publisher for a journal article and 10%
for a book

       Awareness and experience of OA publishing varies by subject
– researchers in Biological Sciences had greater awareness and
experience, particularly in journals, while participants from the
Earth Sciences and Technology had lower awareness and less OA
publishing experience

       Over 25% of researchers are aware of Open Access publishers
such as PLoS, InTech, BioMedCentral and Hindawi

       For Open Access journal publications, it is the image and
reputation of the journal itself that is the most important factor for
authors when considering where to submit their work; but for books it
is the image and reputation of the publisher

       The survey highlighted that authors want more support from
publishers in getting their work noticed – services provided by
publishers where the level of satisfaction scored lowest centred on PR
and media support; post-publication information on usage / citations /
peer feedback; and promoting the author effectively alongside their
work.

Henk Compier, Managing Director at InTech is not surprised by the
evidence supporting widespread awareness of Open Access within the
research community, “We have seen great enthusiasm amongst our
authors for the Open Access model.”

The survey also explored the most common concerns surrounding OA
publishing; among these were author fees – over 65% (of the 256
participants who responded) said they were willing to pay author fees,
30% said they would be willing to pay if it helped ensure the widest
possible audience for their work, while 38% would only pay in
exceptional circumstances.

Henk Compier commented on this saying, “Any concerns that we hear
from authors usually come from a lack of understanding of this
relatively new model. Often we find that if we get a chance to explain
our processes and dispel some of the myths surrounding Open Access
publishing, authors are generally supportive of the principles.”

The full results can be downloaded from: http://www.intechweb.org/js/ckeditor/kcfinder/upload/files/InTech_WhitePaper_FutureofOA_Dec11.pdf

By sharing the results of this survey, InTech hopes to encourage other
OA publishers and advocates to promote understanding and discussion of
the issues while making progress in shaping the model to meet the
needs of the research community.

For more information, please contact:
Paul MacKenzie-Cummins, Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +385 51 770 447 / Email: mackenzie@intechweb.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

/About InTech/

InTech is an Open Access company within the fields of Science,
Technology and Medicine. Established in 2004, the company is one of
the earliest pioneers of open access and have since become one of the
fastest growing publishers in the world today.
Useful facts and figures: In 2011 -

       InTech published 800 books using the Open Access publishing
model

       Worked with 60,000 authors

       Received 735,000 downloads of books and over1.7 million
downloads of chapters and articles

       Averaged 154,000 unique users per month.