Global reach: The Open Access Articles Collection at 4

This month, the Open Access Articles Collection, created to house articles made available under the MIT Faculty Open Access Policy, turns four. In those four years, downloads have grown past the 1.3 million mark, and have been documented from every corner of the globe.

In the last few months, Greenland joined the chorus of downloads from around the world (with 4 downloads), as did the Holy See (Vatican City State), Montserrat, and Somalia (1 download each).

Worldwide downloads from Open Access Articles Collection, 2009- September 2013

Worldwide downloads from Open Access Articles Collection, October 2009- September 2013

Downloads are heaviest from the United States (33%), China (9%), India (6%), the United Kingdom (5%), and Germany (4%). Not surprisingly, Canada (3%) and Australia (2%) are also heavy users of the collection, along with Japan, South Korea, and France. Use is very widespread, with substantial downloads from countries as diverse geographically as Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, Finland, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya (which accounts for 1% of the downloads). Hong Kong and Vietnam account for 0.7% and 0.6% of the downloads, respectively, with Bhutan comprising .002%, at 20 downloads.

Readers around the world have spoken with their actions, supporting the premise of the faculty’s open access policy, which is designed to share MIT research and scholarship as widely as possible.

This news is reported in celebration of International Open Access Week.

Ellen Finnie Duranceau / Program Manager, Scholarly Publishing & Licensing / MIT Libraries