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Evaluating open access advantages for citations and altmetrics (2011–2021): A dynamic and evolving relationship
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2026-06-15
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Abstract
Differences between the impacts of Open Access (OA) and non-OA research have been observed over a range of citation and altmetric indicators, usually finding an Open Access Advantage (OAA). However, science-wide analyses covering multiple years, indicators, and disciplines are lacking. Using citations and six altmetrics for 33.3 million articles published during 2011–2021, we compare OA and non-OA papers. The results show that there is no universal OAA across all disciplines or impact indicators: The OAA for citations tends to be lower for recent papers, whereas the OAAs for news, blogs, and Twitter are consistent across years and unrelated to volume of OA publications. Wikipedia OAAs are consistently pronounced for all subjects except Humanities and Social Sciences. Patent OAAs for are strongest for Medical & Health Sciences and Life Sciences. Uniquely, the OAAs for Policy citations are stronger for recently published research. These results support different hypotheses for different subjects and indicators. The evidence is consistent with OA accelerating research impact in Medical & Health Sciences, Life Sciences, and Humanities; increased visibility/discoverability being a factor in promoting the socioeconomic impact; and that OA is a factor in growing online engagement with research. OAAs are therefore complex, dynamic and multifactorial, and require considerable analysis to understand.
Citation
Taylor, M. (2026) Evaluating open access advantages for citations and altmetrics (2011–2021): A dynamic and evolving relationship. Quantitative Science Studies, 7, pp. 643–670. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/QSS.a.470
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Journal article
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en
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© 2026 The Authors. Published by MIT Press. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1162/QSS.a.470
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2641-3337
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The author is employed at Digital Science, owners of Altmetric and Dimensions, and received funding for the OA APC fee.