Study shows more than half of peer-reviewed research articles published during 2007-2012 are now open access
(Phys.org) —A recent study paid for by the European Commission, and conducted and published by (the non-peer reviewed site) Science-Metrix, has found that more than half (approximately 55 percent) of peer-reviewed research articles that were originally published between the years 2007-2012 can now be accessed free of charge somewhere on the Internet—a marked increase over last year when papers from just one year reached that mark. Researchers with the study also found that approximately 13 percent of peer-reviewed research papers were published directly to open access sites in 2012. Papers first published behind paywalls make their way to open access sites only after a certain time delay, usually, the researchers report, due to authors archiving their papers themselves.