Advocates and scholars of Open Access publishing cite several benefits of this form of publishing, including:
Additionally, some OA advocates theorize that the above OA advantages also lead to an article citation advantage. However, the verdict on this theory is still out, with some studies showing a citation benefit for OA published articles and others finding little correlation.
Further information about the Open Access Advantage may be found in the following recommended resources:
Swan, Alma, 2010,The Open Access Citation Advantage: studies and results to date,” http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/268516/2/Citation_advantage_paper.pdf).
Wagner, A. Ben, “Open Access Citation Advantage: An Annotated Bibliography,” Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship Winter 2010
As a method of access and use, Open Access publishing is being used across a wide spectrum of material types and subject areas. Some of the most commonly found Open Access resources include: