Exploring Open Access Trends in State Agricultural Universities of India: Insights from OpenAlex

Abstract

The study examines the Open Access (OA) landscape of Indian state agricultural universities, focusing on OA growth, leading institutions, prolific authors, preferred sources, funding, article processing charge (APC) usage, and trending topics. It aims to identify research gaps, guide future studies, and support policymakers in developing effective OA policies. The research utilized the OpenAlex database to collect global OA publications from Indian state agricultural universities over the past ten years (2014-2023). Using the Research Organization Registry ID (ROR ID), 97,536 publications were extracted. Data analysis was performed with OpenRefine, and ArcGIS 10.8 was used for visualization. The global OA research output from state agricultural universities amounted to 65,889 publications across five OA categories. Notably, 78.34% of OA publications were published in 864 domestic journals. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University produced the most publications in Gold OA, followed by Diamond OA, Hybrid OA, and Bronze OA, while Punjab Agricultural University excelled in Green OA and received the highest funding, incurring the most APCs. Collaborative research focusing on agricultural policies, rice water management, soil fertility, and crop productivity had a greater impact. This study is the first effort to evaluate the global OA research output of Indian state agricultural universities. The findings offer institutions, state governments, and funding agencies the opportunity to prioritize open-access publishing to promote sustainable agricultural research.