Diversifying Readership Through Open Access - A Usage Analysis for OA Books

Oct 3, 2026

Diversifying readership through open access investigates how making scholarly books open access influences reader behavior and usage patterns. It compares OA books with non-OA comparator titles, examines geographic differences in uptake, and includes a case study to illustrate observed effects. The white paper outlines methodology, logged and anonymous usage data, results, discussion, conclusions, and limitations, with supporting appendices and references.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages38

Reading Time1 h 36 min

AccessFree to download

Executive summary

Introduction

Methodology and data overview

Results

Part 1: OA vs non-OA usage

Part 2: Geographic usage patterns for OA and non-OA books

Case study

Discussion and conclusion

Limitations

Appendices

[springernature.com](springernature.com) I llustration inspired by the wor k of John Dewey Open Research DIVERSIFYING READERSHIP THROUGH OPEN ACCESS: A USAGE ANALYSIS FOR OA BOOKS White paper Open Research: Journals, books , data and tools from: Contents Foreword-Springer Nature ............................................. 1 Foreword-COARD .................................................... 1 Executive summary ................................................... 2 Introduction ......................................................... 4 Methodology and data overview ......................................... 6 Results ............................................................. 7 Part 1: OA vs non-OA usage ........................................ 7 Part 2: Geographic usage patterns for OA and non-OA books ............. 10 Case study .......................................................... 18 Discussion and conclusion ............................................. 21 Limitations .......................................................... 23 Acknowledgements ................................................... 25 Contacts ............................................................ 25 Glossary ............................................................ 26 Appendices .......................................................... 28 Appendix 1: Selection of non-OA comparator titles ..................... 28 Appendix 2: Logged and anonymous usage data ....................... 28 Appendix 3: Distribution of titles in each combination of categories ........ 29 Appendix 4: Frequency of selected top-level domains ................... 30 Appendix 5: Effects of book length ................................... 31 References .......................................................... 32 Authors Ros Pyne [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7310-](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7310-)[ ](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7310-)3153 Christina Emery [https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3903-](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3903-)[ ](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3903-)6724 Mithu Lucraft [https://orcid.org/0000-0003-](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-)[ ](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-)[0355-6576](0355-6576) Alkim Özaygen [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6813-](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6813-)[ ](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6813-)8362 Lucy Montgomery [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6551-](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6551-)[ ](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6551-)8140 Cameron Neylon [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0068-](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0068-)[ ](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0068-)716X September 2020 This white paper has been made openly available in the figshare repository under a CC BY 4.0 licence ( [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)) Access white paper: [www.springernature.com/](www.springernature.com/)[ ](www.springernature.com/)diversifyingreadership DOI: 10. 6084/ m9.figshare.12746177 How to refer to this white paper: Pyne, R. et al. (2020) . Diversifying readership through open access: A usage analysis for OA books [White paper] . Springer Nature & COARD. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.12746177 Diversifying readership through open access: A usage analysis for OA books [springernature.com](springernature.com) 1 ForewordSpringer Nature At Springer Nature, we are committed to open access (OA), and this includes scholarly books. We have been publishing OA books for almost a decade, and we recently celebrated the publication of our 1000th OA book. Alongside growing our programme, we have made it our mission to better understand how OA benefits scholarly books. We are in an unusually good position to do so: we make our books OA immediately on publication, under a CC BY licence by preference, but in all other respects our OA books are treated almost identically to our non-OA books. They are commissioned by

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this white paper?

To analyze how open access affects the readership and usage of scholarly books, including comparisons with non-OA titles.

How does the report compare OA and non-OA books?

It uses a defined set of non-OA comparator titles and examines usage measures to identify differences between OA and non-OA readership patterns.

What additional angle does the report cover beyond overall usage?

It evaluates geographic usage patterns, focusing on how reader uptake varies for OA books across regions, including low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

Oct 3, 2026

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