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<!DOCTYPE html> <html class=""> <head> <title>The impact factor of an open access journal does... | F1000Research</title> <meta charset="utf-8">   <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <meta name="google-site-verification" content="9-QVycOO2_ob3Z9QzRmXv2CF08A9oyYXqWyTiVdKPlU" />  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1"> <link rel="alternate" title="Recent articles published in F1000Research" href="/rss" type="application/rss+xml"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/pdf" title="PDF" href="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/pdf"/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208" /> <meta name="description" content="Read the original article in full on F1000Research: The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations" /> <meta name="og:title" content="F1000Research Article: The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations."> <meta name="og:description" content="Read the latest article version by SK Chua, Ahmad M Qureshi, Vijay Krishnan, Dinker R Pai, Laila B Kamal, Sharmilla Gunasegaran, MZ Afzal, Lahiru Ambawatta, JY Gan, PY Kew, Than Winn, Suneet Sood, at F1000Research."> <meta name="og:image" content="/img/share/og_research.png"> <meta name="version-id" content="11743"> <meta name="article-id" content="10892"> <meta name="dc.title" content="The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations"> <meta name="dc.description" content="Background Citations of papers are positively influenced by the journal’s impact factor (IF). For non-open access (non-OA) journals, this influence may be due to the fact that high-IF journals are more often purchased by libraries, and are therefore more often available to researchers, than low-IF journals. This positive influence has not, however, been shown specifically for papers published in open access (OA) journals, which are universally accessible, and do not need library purchase. It is therefore important to ascertain if the IF influences citations in OA journals too. Methods 203 randomized controlled trials (102 OA and 101 non-OA) published in January 2011 were included in the study. Five-year citations for papers published in OA journals were compared to those for non-OA journals. Source papers were derived from PubMed. Citations were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The Thompson-Reuter’s IF was used. Results OA journals were found to have significantly more citations overall compared to non-OA journals (median 15.5 vs 12, p=0.039). The IF did not correlate with citations for OA journals (Spearman’s rho =0.187, p=0.60). The increase in the citations with increasing IF was minimal for OA journals (beta coefficient = 3.346, 95% CI -0.464, 7.156, p=0.084). In contrast, the IF did show moderate correlation with citations for articles published in non-OA journals (Spearman’s rho=0.514, p&lt;0.001). The increase in the number of citations was also significant (beta coefficient = 4.347, 95% CI 2.42, 6.274, p&lt;0.001). Conclusion It is better to publish in an OA journal for more citations. It may not be worth paying high publishing fees for higher IF journals, because there is minimal gain in terms of increased number of citations. On the other hand, if one wishes to publish in a non-OA journal, it is better to choose one with a high IF."> <meta name="dc.subject" content="bibliometrics, bibliometric analysis, information science, publications, literature based discovery, open access, Web of Science, Google Scholar, "> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Chua, SK"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Qureshi, Ahmad M"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Krishnan, Vijay"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Pai, Dinker R"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Kamal, Laila B"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Gunasegaran, Sharmilla"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Afzal, MZ"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Ambawatta, Lahiru"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Gan, JY"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Kew, PY"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Winn, Than"> <meta name="dc.creator" content="Sood, Suneet"> <meta name="dc.date" content="2017/03/02"> <meta name="dc.identifier" content="doi:10.12688/f1000research.10892.1"> <meta name="dc.source" content="F1000Research 2017 6:208"> <meta name="dc.format" content="text/html"> <meta name="dc.language" content="en"> <meta name="dc.publisher" content="F1000 Research Limited"> <meta name="dc.rights" content="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"> <meta name="dc.type" content="text"> <meta name="prism.keyword" content="bibliometrics"> <meta name="prism.keyword" content="bibliometric analysis"> <meta name="prism.keyword" content="information science"> <meta name="prism.keyword" content="publications"> <meta name="prism.keyword" content="literature based discovery"> <meta name="prism.keyword" content="open access"> <meta name="prism.keyword" content="Web of Science"> <meta name="prism.keyword" content="Google Scholar"> <meta name="prism.publication.Name" content="F1000Research"> <meta name="prism.publicationDate" content="2017/03/02"> <meta name="prism.volume" content="6"> <meta name="prism.number" content="208"> <meta name="prism.versionIdentifier" content="1"> <meta name="prism.doi" content="10.12688/f1000research.10892.1"> <meta name="prism.url" content="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208"> <meta name="citation_title" content="The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations"> <meta name="citation_abstract" content="Background Citations of papers are positively influenced by the journal’s impact factor (IF). For non-open access (non-OA) journals, this influence may be due to the fact that high-IF journals are more often purchased by libraries, and are therefore more often available to researchers, than low-IF journals. This positive influence has not, however, been shown specifically for papers published in open access (OA) journals, which are universally accessible, and do not need library purchase. It is therefore important to ascertain if the IF influences citations in OA journals too. Methods 203 randomized controlled trials (102 OA and 101 non-OA) published in January 2011 were included in the study. Five-year citations for papers published in OA journals were compared to those for non-OA journals. Source papers were derived from PubMed. Citations were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The Thompson-Reuter’s IF was used. Results OA journals were found to have significantly more citations overall compared to non-OA journals (median 15.5 vs 12, p=0.039). The IF did not correlate with citations for OA journals (Spearman’s rho =0.187, p=0.60). The increase in the citations with increasing IF was minimal for OA journals (beta coefficient = 3.346, 95% CI -0.464, 7.156, p=0.084). In contrast, the IF did show moderate correlation with citations for articles published in non-OA journals (Spearman’s rho=0.514, p&lt;0.001). The increase in the number of citations was also significant (beta coefficient = 4.347, 95% CI 2.42, 6.274, p&lt;0.001). Conclusion It is better to publish in an OA journal for more citations. It may not be worth paying high publishing fees for higher IF journals, because there is minimal gain in terms of increased number of citations. On the other hand, if one wishes to publish in a non-OA journal, it is better to choose one with a high IF."> <meta name="citation_description" content="Background Citations of papers are positively influenced by the journal’s impact factor (IF). For non-open access (non-OA) journals, this influence may be due to the fact that high-IF journals are more often purchased by libraries, and are therefore more often available to researchers, than low-IF journals. This positive influence has not, however, been shown specifically for papers published in open access (OA) journals, which are universally accessible, and do not need library purchase. It is therefore important to ascertain if the IF influences citations in OA journals too. Methods 203 randomized controlled trials (102 OA and 101 non-OA) published in January 2011 were included in the study. Five-year citations for papers published in OA journals were compared to those for non-OA journals. Source papers were derived from PubMed. Citations were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The Thompson-Reuter’s IF was used. Results OA journals were found to have significantly more citations overall compared to non-OA journals (median 15.5 vs 12, p=0.039). The IF did not correlate with citations for OA journals (Spearman’s rho =0.187, p=0.60). The increase in the citations with increasing IF was minimal for OA journals (beta coefficient = 3.346, 95% CI -0.464, 7.156, p=0.084). In contrast, the IF did show moderate correlation with citations for articles published in non-OA journals (Spearman’s rho=0.514, p&lt;0.001). The increase in the number of citations was also significant (beta coefficient = 4.347, 95% CI 2.42, 6.274, p&lt;0.001). Conclusion It is better to publish in an OA journal for more citations. It may not be worth paying high publishing fees for higher IF journals, because there is minimal gain in terms of increased number of citations. On the other hand, if one wishes to publish in a non-OA journal, it is better to choose one with a high IF."> <meta name="citation_keywords" content="bibliometrics, bibliometric analysis, information science, publications, literature based discovery, open access, Web of Science, Google Scholar, "> <meta name="citation_journal_title" content="F1000Research"> <meta name="citation_author" content="SK Chua"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Ahmad M Qureshi"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Department of Public Health, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Vijay Krishnan"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Dinker R Pai"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, JurongHealth, Jurong East"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Laila B Kamal"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Sharmilla Gunasegaran"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_author" content="MZ Afzal"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Lahiru Ambawatta"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_author" content="JY Gan"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_author" content="PY Kew"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Than Winn"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Department of Community Medicine, MAHSA University, Kuala Lumpur"> <meta name="citation_author" content="Suneet Sood"> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="Department of Surgery, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor"> <meta name="citation_publication_date" content="2017/03/02"> <meta name="citation_volume" content="6"> <meta name="citation_publication_number" content="208"> <meta name="citation_version_number" content="1"> <meta name="citation_doi" content="10.12688/f1000research.10892.1"> <meta name="citation_firstpage" content="208"> <meta name="citation_pdf_url" content="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/pdf"> <meta name="citation_xml_url" content="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/xml"> <link href="/img/favicon-research.ico" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/ico"> <link href="/img/favicon-research.ico" rel="icon" type="image/ico"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/1730888792616/css/mdl/material-design-lite-research.css" type="text/css" media="all" /> <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/icon?family=Material+Icons" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:100,100i,300,300i,400,400i,500,500i,700,700i,900,900i" rel="stylesheet"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/1730888792616/css/Research.css" type="text/css" media="all" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/F1000ResearchFontIcons/F1000ResearchFontIcons.css" type="text/css" media="all" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/F1000ResearchFontIcons/animation.css" type="text/css" media="all" />     <script src="https://cdn.cookielaw.org/consent/1bc074d1-3db4-47ed-9f80-df1a4a3f2ab4/OtAutoBlock.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="https://cdn.cookielaw.org/scripttemplates/otSDKStub.js" type="text/javascript" charset="UTF-8" data-domain-script="1bc074d1-3db4-47ed-9f80-df1a4a3f2ab4"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> function OptanonWrapper() {} </script>  <script> dataLayer = []; 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type=hidden id=article_uuid value=da8ba3a3-dee4-4a88-b2fc-a16273922624 /> <input type=hidden id=referer value=""/> <input type=hidden id=meta-article-title value="The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations"/> <input type=hidden id=workspace-export-url value="https://sciwheel.com/work/api/import/external?doi=10.12688/f1000research.10892.1"/> <input type=hidden id=versionDoi value="10.12688/f1000research.10892.1"/> <input type=hidden id=usePmcStats value=true /> </div> <main class="o-wrapper p-article__wrapper js-wrapper"> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208" }, "headline": "The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations", "datePublished": "2017-03-02T09:57:03", "dateModified": "2017-03-02T09:57:03", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "SK Chua" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ahmad M Qureshi" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Vijay Krishnan" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dinker R Pai" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laila B Kamal" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sharmilla Gunasegaran" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "MZ Afzal" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lahiru Ambawatta" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "JY Gan" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "PY Kew" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Than Winn" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Suneet Sood" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "F1000Research", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://f1000research.com/img/AMP/F1000Research_image.png", "height": 480, "width": 60 } }, "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://f1000research.com/img/AMP/F1000Research_image.png", "height": 1200, "width": 150 }, "description": "Background Citations of papers are positively influenced by the journal’s impact factor (IF). For non-open access (non-OA) journals, this influence may be due to the fact that high-IF journals are more often purchased by libraries, and are therefore more often available to researchers, than low-IF journals. This positive influence has not, however, been shown specifically for papers published in open access (OA) journals, which are universally accessible, and do not need library purchase. It is therefore important to ascertain if the IF influences citations in OA journals too. Methods 203 randomized controlled trials (102 OA and 101 non-OA) published in January 2011 were included in the study. Five-year citations for papers published in OA journals were compared to those for non-OA journals. Source papers were derived from PubMed. Citations were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The Thompson-Reuter’s IF was used. Results OA journals were found to have significantly more citations overall compared to non-OA journals (median 15.5 vs 12, p=0.039). The IF did not correlate with citations for OA journals (Spearman’s rho =0.187, p=0.60). The increase in the citations with increasing IF was minimal for OA journals (beta coefficient = 3.346, 95% CI -0.464, 7.156, p=0.084). In contrast, the IF did show moderate correlation with citations for articles published in non-OA journals (Spearman’s rho=0.514, p&lt;0.001). The increase in the number of citations was also significant (beta coefficient = 4.347, 95% CI 2.42, 6.274, p&lt;0.001). Conclusion It is better to publish in an OA journal for more citations. It may not be worth paying high publishing fees for higher IF journals, because there is minimal gain in terms of increased number of citations. 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</div> </div> <div class="article-subtitle js-article-subtitle"></div> <div class=f1r-article-desk> <div class="authors _mdl-layout js-article-authors"><span class=""><span class=js-article-author>SK Chua</span><sup>1</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=""><span class=js-article-author>Ahmad M Qureshi</span><sup>2</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=""><span class=js-article-author>Vijay Krishnan</span><sup>3</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><a href="#" class=article-page-expand-authors>[...] </a><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Dinker R Pai</span><sup>4</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Laila B Kamal</span><sup>1</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Sharmilla Gunasegaran</span><sup>1</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>MZ Afzal</span><sup>1</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Lahiru Ambawatta</span><sup>1</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>JY Gan</span><a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9868-0969" target=_blank id=author-orcid-8><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span></a><div class="mdl-tooltip mdl-tooltip--wider" for=author-orcid-8><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span> https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9868-0969</div><sup>1</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=""><span class=js-article-author>PY Kew</span><sup>1</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=""><span class=js-article-author>Than Winn</span><sup>5</sup><span class=js-article-author-separator>, </span></span><span class=""><a href="mailto:suneet.sood@monash.edu" title="Send email" class="cauthor research-layout"><span class='f1r-icon icon-6_email orange'></span><span class=js-article-author>Suneet Sood</span></a><a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1125-1721" target=_blank id=author-orcid-11><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span></a><div class="mdl-tooltip mdl-tooltip--wider" for=author-orcid-11><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span> https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1125-1721</div><sup>6</sup></span><span class="author-display-control article-page-expand-authors f1r-icon icon-20_plus_big"></span><span class="author-display-control article-page-hidden-authors f1r-icon icon-12_minus_big"></span></div> </div> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <div class="authors _mdl-layout js-article-authors"><span class=""><span class=js-article-author>SK Chua</span><sup>1</sup>, </span><span class=""><span class=js-article-author>Ahmad M Qureshi</span><sup>2</sup>, </span><a href="#" class=article-page-expand-authors>[...] </a><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Vijay Krishnan</span><sup>3</sup>, </span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Dinker R Pai</span><sup>4</sup>, </span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Laila B Kamal</span><sup>1</sup>, </span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Sharmilla Gunasegaran</span><sup>1</sup>, </span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>MZ Afzal</span><sup>1</sup>, </span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>Lahiru Ambawatta</span><sup>1</sup>, </span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>JY Gan</span><a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9868-0969" target=_blank id=mauthor-orcid-8><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span></a><div class="mdl-tooltip mdl-tooltip--wider" for=mauthor-orcid-8><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span> https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9868-0969</div><sup>1</sup>, </span><span class=article-page-hidden-authors><span class=js-article-author>PY Kew</span><sup>1</sup>, </span><span class=""><span class=js-article-author>Than Winn</span><sup>5</sup>, </span><span class=""><a href="mailto:suneet.sood@monash.edu" title="Send email" class="cauthor research-layout js-article-author"><span class='f1r-icon icon-6_email orange'></span><span>Suneet Sood</span></a><a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1125-1721" target=_blank id=mauthor-orcid-11><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span></a><div class="mdl-tooltip mdl-tooltip--wider" for=mauthor-orcid-11><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span> https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1125-1721</div><sup>6</sup></span><span class="author-display-control article-page-expand-authors f1r-icon icon-20_plus_big"></span><span class="author-display-control article-page-hidden-authors f1r-icon icon-12_minus_big"></span></div> </div> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <div class=article-pubinfo-mobile> PUBLISHED 02 Mar 2017 </div> </div> <span class=Z3988 title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft_id=info:doi/10.12688%2Ff1000research.10892.1"></span> <div class=f1r-article-desk> <div class="contracted-details first"> <a href="#" class="contracted-details-label author-affiliations"><span class=contracted></span>Author details</a> <a href="#" class=section-title>Author details</a> <span class="f1r-icon icon-14_more_small section-control"></span> <span class="f1r-icon icon-10_less_small section-control"></span> <div class="expanded-details affiliations is-hidden js-article-affiliations"> <sup>1</sup> <span class=js-article-affiliation>Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia</span><br/> <sup>2</sup> <span class=js-article-affiliation>Department of Public Health, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia</span><br/> <sup>3</sup> <span class=js-article-affiliation>All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India</span><br/> <sup>4</sup> <span class=js-article-affiliation>Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, JurongHealth, Jurong East, Singapore</span><br/> <sup>5</sup> <span class=js-article-affiliation>Department of Community Medicine, MAHSA University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia</span><br/> <sup>6</sup> <span class=js-article-affiliation>Department of Surgery, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia</span><br/> <p> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <div class="article-page-section-box margin-bottom-40 research-layout"> <span class=box-title> <span class="f1r-icon icon-85_peer_review"></span> OPEN PEER REVIEW </span> <button class="tertiary grey float-right" data-scrollto=article-reports>DETAILS</button> <div class="status-row referee-reports-container"> REVIEWER STATUS <span class=status-icons> <span class="f1r-icon icon-86_approved status-green smaller" title=Approved data-refInfo=20992-20913></span> <span class="f1r-icon icon-86_approved status-green smaller" title=Approved data-refInfo=20818-23330></span> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id=anchor-abstract> <h2 class="article-headings article-page-abstract"> <span class="f1r-article-mobile-inline abstract-heading-border"></span> <span>Abstract</span> </h2> <div class="article-abstract article-page-general-text-mobile research-layout"> <div class="abstract-text is-expanded"> <div>Background<br/> Citations of papers are positively influenced by the journal’s impact factor (IF). For non-open access (non-OA) journals, this influence may be due to the fact that high-IF journals are more often purchased by libraries, and are therefore more often available to researchers, than low-IF journals. This positive influence has not, however, been shown specifically for papers published in open access (OA) journals, which are universally accessible, and do not need library purchase. It is therefore important to ascertain if the IF influences citations in OA journals too.<br/> Methods<br/> 203 randomized controlled trials (102 OA and 101 non-OA) published in January 2011 were included in the study. Five-year citations for papers published in OA journals were compared to those for non-OA journals. Source papers were derived from PubMed. Citations were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The Thompson-Reuter’s IF was used.<br/> Results<br/> OA journals were found to have significantly more citations overall compared to non-OA journals (median 15.5 vs 12, p=0.039). The IF did not correlate with citations for OA journals (Spearman’s rho =0.187, p=0.60). The increase in the citations with increasing IF was minimal for OA journals (beta coefficient = 3.346, 95% CI -0.464, 7.156, p=0.084). In contrast, the IF did show moderate correlation with citations for articles published in non-OA journals (Spearman’s rho=0.514, p<0.001). The increase in the number of citations was also significant (beta coefficient = 4.347, 95% CI 2.42, 6.274, p<0.001).<br/> Conclusion<br/> It is better to publish in an OA journal for more citations. It may not be worth paying high publishing fees for higher IF journals, because there is minimal gain in terms of increased number of citations. On the other hand, if one wishes to publish in a non-OA journal, it is better to choose one with a high IF.</div> </div> <div class=abstract-for-mobile> <div class="margin-top-30 padding-bottom-30 research-layout is-centered"> <button class="primary orange-text white-bg bigger-text abstract-expand-button-mobile with-border show" style="display: none;"> READ ALL <span class="f1r-icon icon-14_more_small orange vmiddle big"></span> </button> <button class="primary orange-text white-bg bigger-text abstract-expand-button-mobile with-border hide"> READ LESS <span class="f1r-icon icon-10_less_small orange vmiddle big"></span> </button> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=clearfix></div> <div class="article-context no-divider"> <div class="article-abstract article-page-general-text-mobile research-layout generated-article-body"> <h2 class=main-title>Keywords</h2> <p class="u-mb--0 u-pb--2"> bibliometrics, bibliometric analysis, information science, publications, literature based discovery, open access, Web of Science, Google Scholar, </p> </div> </div> <div class=article-information> <span class="info-separation padding-bottom"> <div id=corresponding-author-icon class="email-icon float-left"> <span class="f1r-icon icon-6_email orange"></span> <div id=corresponding-author-window class="margin-top-20 popup-window-wrapper is-hidden"> <div class="popup-window corresponding-authors-popup"> <div class=corresponding-author-container> <div class="popup-window-title small">Corresponding Author(s)</div> <div class=authors> Suneet Sood (<a href="mailto:suneet.sood@monash.edu">suneet.sood@monash.edu</a>) </div> </div> <div class="margin-top margin-bottom float-left"> <button id=close-popup-window class=general-white-orange-button>Close</button> </div> </div> </div> </div> <span class="icon-text float-left" data-test-id=box-corresponding-author> <b>Corresponding author:</b> Suneet Sood </span> <div class=clearfix></div> </span> <span class="info-separation padding-bottom competing-interests-display"> <span class=competing-interests-title>Competing interests:</span> No competing interests were disclosed. </span> <div class="info-separation padding-bottom grant-information-display"> <span class=grant-information-title>Grant information:</span> The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work. </div> <span class="f1r-article-desk info-separation padding-bottom"> <span class="copywrite-icon float-left"> <span class="f1r-icon icon-100_open_access"></span> </span> <span class="icon-text float-left" data-test-id=box-copyright-text> <b>Copyright:</b>  © 2017 Chua S <em>et al</em>. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target=_blank data-test-id=box-licence-link>Creative Commons Attribution License</a>, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Data associated with the article are available under the terms of the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/" target=_blank data-test-id=box-data-licence-link>Creative Commons Zero "No rights reserved" data waiver</a> (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication). </span> <div class=clearfix></div> </span> <span class="info-separation padding-bottom" data-test-id=box-how-to-cite> <b>How to cite:</b> <span class="article-title-and-info in-article-box"> Chua S, Qureshi AM, Krishnan V <em>et al.</em> The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]</span>. <i>F1000Research</i> 2017, <b>6</b>:208 (<a href="https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10892.1" target=_blank>https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10892.1</a>) </span> <span class=info-separation data-test-id=box-first-published><b>First published:</b> 02 Mar 2017, <b>6</b>:208 (<a href="https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10892.1" target=_blank>https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10892.1</a>)</span> <span class=info-separation data-test-id=box-latest-published><b>Latest published:</b> 02 Mar 2017, <b>6</b>:208 (<a href="https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10892.1" target=_blank>https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10892.1</a>)</span> </div> <div class=clearfix></div> <div id=article-context class=article-context> <div id=article1-body class=generated-article-body><h2 class=main-title id=d2092330e372>Introduction</h2><p class="" id=d2092330e375>A journal’s impact factor (IF) has long been used as a measure of the quality of a journal<sup><a href="#ref-1">1</a></sup>. Today, the IF is used as a tool to assess researchers for employment, career promotion, and funding<sup><a href="#ref-2">2</a>–<a href="#ref-4">4</a></sup>.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e389>In the past, most libraries could possess only a limited number of journals, and librarians used the IF to decide which journals to buy<sup><a href="#ref-3">3</a>,<a href="#ref-5">5</a>–<a href="#ref-7">7</a></sup>. Consequently, high IF journals were more likely to be purchased, read, and cited. With low IF journals, availability was a constraint. Scientists, wanting a greater audience for their research, preferred to publish in high IF journals. There was plenty of evidence that publishing in a higher IF journal resulted in more citations<sup><a href="#ref-8">8</a>–<a href="#ref-13">13</a></sup>.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e409>In contrast, at present, open access (OA) journals are universally available. Libraries have no need to subscribe, and researchers can access OA articles freely. Expectedly, OA publication is associated with increased citations<sup><a href="#ref-14">14</a>–<a href="#ref-19">19</a></sup>, so researchers are likely to prefer this path. What is not known is whether, within OA journals, increasing IF is associated with increasing citations, as it is for non-OA journals. Yet this information is important, since cost of publishing in an open access journal is high and increases with the journal’s IF. Should a researcher, or a sponsor, pay good money for publication in a higher IF OA journal if the IF will not influence citations?</p><p class="" id=d2092330e419>We conducted a study to determine whether an OA journal’s IF influences citations.</p></div><div id=article1-body class=generated-article-body><h2 class=main-title id=d2092330e425>Methods</h2><p class="" id=d2092330e428>We first conducted a pilot study to estimate required sample size. For this purpose, 57 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were extracted from PubMed, and scanned for citations as listed in the Web of Science. PubMed was chosen to look for source articles because most researchers start their search on PubMed<sup><a href="#ref-20">20</a></sup>. Within this pilot group, for OA articles the mean citations were 12.0±8.81; for non-OA articles the mean citations were 7.14±6.89. The estimated sample size, at α= 0.05 and β=0.2, was 58 articles per group, which we rounded up to an intended 100 articles per group.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e435>In order to have a 5-year follow up for citations, we chose 2011 as the publication year of articles included in this study, and restricted our source articles to those published in January 2011. We found 3,742 RCTs, and saved them into a Microsoft Excel file. The IF of their journals were derived from the Thompson Reuters’ Web of Science database.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e438>From these 3,742 articles, we extracted titles until at least 100 articles met the criteria for OA, and 100 for non-OA. Articles were picked at random, using MS Excel’s RANDBETWEEN function.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e441>Articles were considered OA if the journal title was present in PubMed’s OA subset list as open access, and open access was allowed immediately upon publication.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e445>Articles were considered non-OA if the following three conditions were all fulfilled:</p><p class="" id=d2092330e448>1. The publishing journal was not listed in PubMed’s OA subset list;</p><p class="" id=d2092330e451>2. The article was never made freely available by the journal;</p><p class="" id=d2092330e454>3. The article was not self-archived (as determined by a careful web search for the article).</p><p class="" id=d2092330e457>In other words, the non-OA article could, in theory, only be read by someone with a subscription. Within non-OA journals, we excluded articles if their journals allowed free access to all articles any time after publication. We further excluded articles published in hybrid non-OA journals if over 20% of their articles were freely available (for this, we counted 100 successive 2011 articles in that journal, and ensured that fewer than 20 were marked as freely accessible). In other words, we attempted to ensure that the non-OA journal was true non-OA, and its IF would properly represent the IF of a non-OA journal (<a href="#f1">Figure 1</a>). Finally, we also excluded articles if their journal did not have a measurable Web of Science IF for 2011.</p><a name=f1 class=n-a></a><div class="fig panel clearfix" data-figure=f1><a target=_blank href="https://f1000research.s3.amazonaws.com/manuscripts/11743/d91ba31e-015c-4112-828b-7fd7dfa4f234_figure1.gif"><img alt="d91ba31e-015c-4112-828b-7fd7dfa4f234_figure1.gif" src="https://f1000research.s3.amazonaws.com/manuscripts/11743/d91ba31e-015c-4112-828b-7fd7dfa4f234_figure1.gif"></a><div class=caption><h3>Figure 1. Workflow of OA and non-OA article selection from PubMed.</h3><p id=d2092330e473> <sup>1</sup>We entered the PubMed search command: “Randomized Controlled Trial [ptyp] AND (“2011/01/01“[PDAT] : “2011/01/31“[PDAT])”. Ptype = publication type, pdat = publication date.</p></div></div><p class="" id=d2092330e484>The articles were scanned for citations as listed in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The search period was extended up to 2016, allowing for five years of publication time, with the assumption that citations over five years provide a better estimate of the impact of a paper than citations over two years<sup><a href="#ref-5">5</a></sup>. Only journal citations were included in the counts; citations in books, theses, and government documents were excluded to conform with the Web of Science policy<sup><a href="#ref-21">21</a></sup>. We exported citation data from the three databases into .csv files, and imported these into a Microsoft Excel sheet. Duplicates were excluded. Citations that appeared in two language versions of the same paper were counted as one.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e495>IBM<sup>®</sup> SPSS<sup>®</sup> Statistics (version 22.0) software was used to conduct the statistical data analyses on the dataset (Dataset 1, doi: <a target=xrefwindow href="http://dx.doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XR6MR9" id=d2092330e503>10.7910/DVN/XR6MR9</a><sup><a href="#ref-22">22</a></sup>). OA journals were compared to non-OA journals for overall IF and citations over 5 years. Normality for each independent variable and dependent variable was assessed using the “Kologorov-Smirnov” test, which showed that citations were not normally distributed (p< 0.05). Consequently, non-parametric univariate analysis was carried out using the “Mann-Whitney” test. Linear regression was performed before and after logarithmic transformation of the data.</p></div><div id=article1-body class=generated-article-body><h2 class=main-title id=d2092330e513>Results</h2><div class=section><a name=d2092330e516 class=n-a></a><h3 class=section-title>Citations for articles published in OA and non-OA journals</h3><p class="" id=d2092330e521>203 articles (101 non-OA, and 102 OA) fulfilled the criteria for inclusion. The IFs of their journals for 2011 (IF-2011) ranged from 0.121 to 10.111 (median 2.083, mean 2.285±1.323). The median of number of citations was 15 (range 0–92).</p><p class="" id=d2092330e524>There were significantly more citations in OA publications than in non-OA publications. The IFs were almost identical (<a href="#T1">Table 1</a>).</p><a name=T1 class=n-a></a><div class="table-wrap panel clearfix" data-figure=T1><div class=caption><h3>Table 1. Comparison of citations in OA and non-OA publications, for number of citations and IF-2011.</h3><p id=d2092330e540>IQR: Interquartile range; SD: standard deviation.</p></div><table xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class=article-table frame=below><a name=d2092330e544 class=n-a></a><thead><a name=d2092330e546 class=n-a></a><tr><a name=d2092330e548 class=n-a></a><th colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e550 class=n-a></a></th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e552 class=n-a></a></th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e554 class=n-a></a>OA</th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e557 class=n-a></a>Non-OA</th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e560 class=n-a></a>p</th></tr></thead><tbody><a name=d2092330e565 class=n-a></a><tr><a name=d2092330e567 class=n-a></a><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e569 class=n-a></a>Number of<br class=br>citations</td><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e574 class=n-a></a>Median (IQR)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e577 class=n-a></a>15.5 (18)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e580 class=n-a></a>12 (20)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e583 class=n-a></a>0.039<sup><a href="#fn1">a</a></sup></td></tr><tr><a name=d2092330e590 class=n-a></a><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1 valign=top><a name=d2092330e592 class=n-a></a>IF-2011</td><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1 valign=top><a name=d2092330e595 class=n-a></a>Mean (SD)<br class=br>Median (IQR)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1 valign=top><a name=d2092330e600 class=n-a></a>22.37 (+19.3)<br class=br>2.083 (0.779)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1 valign=top><a name=d2092330e605 class=n-a></a>18.13 (+16.9)<br class=br>1.996 (1.953)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1 valign=top><a name=d2092330e610 class=n-a></a>0.097<sup><a href="#fn2">b</a></sup><br class=br>0.133<sup><a href="#fn1">a</a></sup></td></tr></tbody></table><div class=table-wrap-foot><div class=footnote><a name=d2092330e626 class=n-a></a><p id=fn1> <sup>a</sup>Mann-Whitney test</p><p id=fn2><sup>b</sup>Independent samples t-test</p></div></div></div></div><div class=section><a name=d2092330e642 class=n-a></a><h3 class=section-title>Correlation between IF-2011 and citations</h3><p class="" id=d2092330e647>We assessed the correlation between IF-2011 and citations. Since the data was skewed, we used Spearman’s rho (r<sub>s</sub>). The r<sub>s</sub> value for all papers was 0.387 (p<0.001).</p><p class="" id=d2092330e656>The correlation was assessed separately for OA and non-OA publications. For OA publications the correlation was very small (r<sub>s</sub>=0.187, p=0.060). In contrast, it was significant (r<sub>s</sub>=0.514, p<0.001) for non-OA publications.</p></div><div class=section><a name=d2092330e666 class=n-a></a><h3 class=section-title>Regression</h3><p class="" id=d2092330e671>We calculated the linear regression coefficient between IF and citations. The crude β regression coefficient was 0.297 (<a href="#T2">Table 2</a>). We then calculated the regression values separately for OA and non-OA publications. There was very little correlation between IF and citations for OA publications. The five-year citations increased by 3.3 for every unit increase in IF. There was, however, significant correlation between citations and IF in non-OA publications, which showed a rise in five-year citations by 4.3 for every unit increase in IF (<a href="#T2">Table 2</a>).</p><a name=T2 class=n-a></a><div class="table-wrap panel clearfix" data-figure=T2><div class=caption><h3>Table 2. Association between IF-2011 and citations for articles published in OA and non-OA journals.</h3><p id=d2092330e690>Final model equation for all citations: 4.093 × (IF-2011) +10.904. Final model equation for OA citations: 3.346 × (IF-2011) + 14.648. Final model equation for non-OA citations: 4.347 × (IF-2011) + 8.291. β: crude regression coefficient. SE: Standard error.</p></div><table xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class=article-table frame=below><a name=d2092330e694 class=n-a></a><thead><a name=d2092330e696 class=n-a></a><tr><a name=d2092330e698 class=n-a></a><th colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e700 class=n-a></a></th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e702 class=n-a></a>β (95% CI)</th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e705 class=n-a></a>p</th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e708 class=n-a></a>Constant (SE)</th></tr></thead><tbody><a name=d2092330e713 class=n-a></a><tr><a name=d2092330e715 class=n-a></a><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e717 class=n-a></a>All</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e720 class=n-a></a>4.093 (2.264, 5.923)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e723 class=n-a></a><0.001</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e726 class=n-a></a>10.904 (0.928)</td></tr><tr><a name=d2092330e730 class=n-a></a><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e732 class=n-a></a>OA</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e735 class=n-a></a>3.346 (-0.464, 7.156)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e738 class=n-a></a>0.084</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e741 class=n-a></a>14.648 (1.920)</td></tr><tr><a name=d2092330e745 class=n-a></a><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e747 class=n-a></a>Non-OA</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e750 class=n-a></a>4.347 (2.420, 6.274)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e753 class=n-a></a><0.001</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e756 class=n-a></a>8.291 (0.971)</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p class="" id=d2092330e763>In view of the skew, we repeated the regression analysis after log<sub>10</sub> transformation of the citation data. The data became normally distributed after transformation. The outcome was roughly similar to the pre-transformation results (<a href="#T3">Table 3</a>).</p><a name=T3 class=n-a></a><div class="table-wrap panel clearfix" data-figure=T3><div class=caption><h3>Table 3. Association between IF-2011 and citations for articles published in OA and non-OA journals, after log<sub>10</sub> transformation of the citations.</h3><p id=d2092330e785>Final model equation for all log<sub>10</sub> citations: 0.097 × (IF-2011) + 0.926. Final model equation for log<sub>10</sub> OA citations: 0.066 × (IF-2011) + 1.055. Final model equation for log<sub>10</sub> non-OA citations: 0.109 × (IF-2011) + 0.839. β: crude regression coefficient. SE: Standard error.</p></div><table xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class=article-table frame=below><a name=d2092330e798 class=n-a></a><thead><a name=d2092330e800 class=n-a></a><tr><a name=d2092330e802 class=n-a></a><th colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e804 class=n-a></a></th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e806 class=n-a></a>β (95% CI)</th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e809 class=n-a></a>p</th><th align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e812 class=n-a></a>Constant (SE)</th></tr></thead><tbody><a name=d2092330e817 class=n-a></a><tr><a name=d2092330e819 class=n-a></a><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e821 class=n-a></a>All</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e824 class=n-a></a>0.097 (0.057, 0.138)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e827 class=n-a></a><0.001</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e830 class=n-a></a>0.926 (0.021)</td></tr><tr><a name=d2092330e834 class=n-a></a><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e836 class=n-a></a>OA</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e839 class=n-a></a>0.066 (-0.008, 0.141)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e842 class=n-a></a>0.081</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e845 class=n-a></a>1.055 (0.038)</td></tr><tr><a name=d2092330e849 class=n-a></a><td align=left colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e851 class=n-a></a>Non-OA</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e854 class=n-a></a>0.109 (0.061, 0.158)</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e857 class=n-a></a><0.001</td><td align=center colspan=1 rowspan=1><a name=d2092330e860 class=n-a></a>0.839 (0.025)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><div id=article1-body class=generated-article-body><h2 class=main-title id=d2092330e871>Discussion</h2><p class="" id=d2092330e874>The IF served an important function in the pre-internet era. Libraries needed to decide which journals to buy. With limited budgets, especially in poorer countries, they purchased only a few of the highest IF journals<sup><a href="#ref-7">7</a>,<a href="#ref-23">23</a>–<a href="#ref-25">25</a></sup>. In a self-propagating mechanism, the higher IF journals continued to be better read and cited, and were purchased more often. To quote Peter Suber<sup><a href="#ref-24">24</a></sup>, “Prestige even feeds prestige. Journal prestige attracts readers, and helps justify library decisions to spend part of their limited budget on a subscription. The growth in readers and subscribers directly boosts prestige.”</p><p class="" id=d2092330e891>With time, the IF became widely used as a measure of the quality of a journal, author, and paper<sup><a href="#ref-21">21</a>,<a href="#ref-24">24</a></sup>. Universities rewarded faculty who published in high-IF journals. Promotion and tenure committees, as well as funding agencies, preferred authors who had published papers in high-IF journals<sup><a href="#ref-24">24</a></sup>. Researchers thus were driven to publish their best papers in high-IF journals. Instead of the content identifying the journal, the journal began to identify the content.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e905>Today, the game has changed and the efficiency of the internet has lead to the proliferation of OA journals. Libraries do not need to make any choices at all; the reader just needs to decide which paper is relevant and read it. This has diminished at least one purpose served by the IF: to help institutions decide which journals to buy. It also raises two questions. The first is: Are publications in OA journals more likely to be cited than those in non-OA journals? The second is: Will a higher IF lead to more citations?</p><div class=section><a name=d2092330e908 class=n-a></a><h3 class=section-title>Citations in OA and non-OA journals</h3><p class="" id=d2092330e913>OA journals are always available to all—this is their advantage over non-OA journals. Consequently, one would expect that an article published in an OA journal would be more easily accessible, more widely read, and therefore more often cited. Research has proved that this is indeed true<sup><a href="#ref-14">14</a>,<a href="#ref-18">18</a>,<a href="#ref-26">26</a></sup>.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e926>Our data has also shown that articles published in OA journals are associated with more citations than those published in non-OA journals—by a factor of 1.3. Although statistically significant, this increase in citations was slightly lower than that shown by others. Antelman<sup><a href="#ref-14">14</a></sup>, found that open access publications in various specialties (philosophy, political science, engineering, mathematics) were associated with increased citation rates by a factor of 1.45–1.9. Freely accessible articles had 1.5 times higher citation rates than non-OA articles. Kousha and Abdoli<sup><a href="#ref-18">18</a></sup> showed that citation rates of OA publications were higher by a factor of 1.9, giving them a clear advantage. However, these other authors compared OA articles and non-OA articles, rather than OA journals and non-OA journals. Our data is different as it compares the number of citations of publications in OA journals with citations of publications in non-OA journals.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e937>This leads us on to the next question: Is the expectation of more citations with a higher IF being fulfilled?</p></div><div class=section><a name=d2092330e942 class=n-a></a><h3 class=section-title>Correlation between citations and IF</h3><p class="" id=d2092330e947>At the start of the study we had expected to see a significant correlation between IF and the number of future citations, believing that increasing IF indicated improved quality of journal and article. For OA journals the correlation, however, was poor and insignificant (r<sub>s</sub>=0.187, p=0.060). We believe that it is safe to say an OA journal’s IF contributes little to an article’s future citations.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e953>In contrast, the relationship between citations and IF was strong for non-OA publications. Our correlation coefficient for non-OA publications (0.514), closely matched the values reported by Judge <i>et al</i> (0.44)<sup><a href="#ref-12">12</a></sup>, Piwowar and Vision (0.45)<sup><a href="#ref-27">27</a></sup>, Vanclay (0.56)<sup><a href="#ref-11">11</a></sup>, and Leimu and Koricheva (0.62)<sup><a href="#ref-28">28</a></sup>. Thus, despite using different databases, particularly Google Scholar, the citation rate in our study showed a moderate (yet statistically significant) correlation with the IF in our study. This validates our methods, and strengthens the findings about OA publications.</p></div><div class=section><a name=d2092330e976 class=n-a></a><h3 class=section-title>Improvement in citations with increasing IF</h3><p class="" id=d2092330e981>Linear regression analysis indicated a very real relationship between citations and IF for non-OA publications. The expected citations rise at an approximate rate of one citation per year per rise in impact factor—a change that is consistent with the very definition of the impact factor. This result was quite similar to the findings reported by Vanclay<sup><a href="#ref-11">11</a></sup> and by Perneger<sup><a href="#ref-29">29</a></sup>. In contrast, publishing in an OA journal with a higher IF did not result in significantly increased citations. For every 1 unit rise in IF, the data showed a rise of just over 3 citations in five years; using the log<sub>10</sub> transformed data the rise was even lower at low IFs. We could not compare our results to those of other authors, as we were unable to find a publication that correlated IF with citations exclusively for OA journals.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e995>We are unable to comment on whether any other variable is a better predictor for an article’s citations compared to the IF, since we did not analyze other factors. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to presume that the article’s quality and relevance will influence the citations much more than IF will. Even for non-OA publications, the citations of an article are likely to be strongly influenced by other factors including the quality of the article, and not by the IF alone. This, of course, is well established<sup><a href="#ref-4">4</a>,<a href="#ref-11">11</a>,<a href="#ref-30">30</a></sup>.</p></div><div class=section><a name=d2092330e1009 class=n-a></a><h3 class=section-title>Publishing in OA and non-OA journals</h3><p class="" id=d2092330e1014>Since OA publications are cited more often, it seems logical that a researcher should publish in an OA journal. Should an author search for a high-IF OA journal? An author may reasonably expect about 14 citations in five years, regardless of the IF, and these would rise to about 20 if the OA journal’s IF was 2 (from 11 to 15 if we use the log<sub>10</sub> transformed data). With a rise in IF from 0 to 4, the total citations would not even double. And unlike non-OA journals, OA journals charge the author, and, in general, the higher the journal’s IF, the higher the cost. BioMed Central journals with IFs higher than 2 typically charge article-processing fees of about 2000 euros. Even if the journal’s IF contributes to a higher readership and citation rate — which is questionable, considering the low r<sup>2</sup> value — it is doubtful whether the few extra citations are worth the cost.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e1023>In contrast to OA journals, the number of citations for an article published in a non-OA journal with IF of 4 will be thrice as many as those published in a non-OA journal with an IF of 0. So it makes sense to select as high an IF as possible when publishing an article in a non-OA journal, particularly since non-OA journals charge their readers, and not their contributors.</p></div><div class=section><a name=d2092330e1027 class=n-a></a><h3 class=section-title>Strengths and limitations</h3><p class="" id=d2092330e1032>We have tried to minimize confounders by selecting RCTs published across one specific month, so that all studies have had the same period of citation. Our other strength was to analyze citations in more than one database: Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The inclusion of Google Scholar allowed us to include results from a much larger database<sup><a href="#ref-31">31</a></sup>, and thus to provide a better representation of citations than would have been possible if we had depended solely on Web of Science or Scopus. We also ensured that non-OA articles were truly non-OA by excluding those that were self-archived and those that were made freely available by the journals. The journals themselves could also be considered truly non-OA, and consequently their IFs could be considered representative of non-OA journals, because we excluded journals that allowed significant numbers of articles to be freely available. We took care to adhere closely to the Web of Science definition of “Impact Factor”<sup><a href="#ref-21">21</a></sup>, by manually examining every Google Scholar citation and excluding citations in books, theses, and government documents. We also included citations over the following 5 years, which we believe provides a better estimate of a paper’s IF<sup><a href="#ref-5">5</a></sup>.</p><p class="" id=d2092330e1047>The main weakness of our study lies in our inability to evaluate the quality of the papers. In ideal circumstances we would have ensured that all papers were of equivalent quality. However this was not feasible. The other potential issue is that inclusion of citations from Google Scholar might allow entry of poor quality publications and predatory publications<sup><a href="#ref-31">31</a></sup>. Despite this possibility, we believe that Google Scholar represents an important database, and must not be excluded.</p></div></div><div id=article1-body class=generated-article-body><h2 class=main-title id=d2092330e1058>Conclusions</h2><p class="" id=d2092330e1061>OA journals attract more citations than non-OA journals. If all other considerations are equal, a researcher should prefer an OA journal to a non-OA journal for publication. If a researcher publishes in an OA journal, the IF does not matter. It is reasonable to select a journal that will publish quickly and cheaply. If a non-OA journals is selected, the researcher should aim to publish in a journal with a high IF.</p></div><div id=article1-body class=generated-article-body><h2 class=main-title id=d2092330e1068>Data availability</h2><p class="" id=d2092330e1071>Dataset 1: Impact factor data. doi, <a target=xrefwindow href="http://dx.doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XR6MR9" id=d2092330e1073>10.7910/DVN/XR6MR9</a><sup><a href="#ref-22">22</a></sup></p></div><div id=article1-back class=generated-article-footer><div class=back-section><a name=d2092330e1 class=n-a></a><h2 class=main-title id=d2092438>Author contributions</h2><p class=metadata-entry><a name=d2092330e279 class=n-a></a><p id=d2092330e281> SS conceived the study. SS, AMQ, DRP, and VK designed the study details, and supervised the data collection. TW was the statistician, and was involved in the study design. The study was conducted as a BMedSc thesis by SKC, who was primarily responsible for the data collection and writing of the first draft; SS and AMQ were her supervisors. LBK, SG, MZA, LA contributed significantly in collecting the data. JYG, PYK participated in writing the paper and rechecking the draft for errors. The paper was largely written by SKC, SS, AMQ, DRP, and VK.</p></p></div><div class=back-section><a name=d2092330e1 class=n-a></a><h2 class=main-title id=d2092442>Competing interests</h2><p class=metadata-entry><a name=d2092330e285 class=n-a></a><p id=d2092330e287> No competing interests were disclosed.</p></p></div><div class=back-section><a name=d2092330e1 class=n-a></a><h2 class=main-title id=d2092444>Grant information</h2><p>The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work.</p></div><div class=back-section><a name=d2092330e1083 class=n-a></a><h2 class=main-title id=d2092330e1085>Acknowledgments</h2><p class="" id=d2092330e1088>We wish to thank Prof Rusli bin Nordin, epidemiologist, for guidance during the study.</p></div><div class=back-section><a name=d2092330e1092 class=n-a></a><span class="research-layout prime-recommended-wrapper reference-heading is-hidden"><span class=faculty-opinion-icon></span><span class="prime-red big">Faculty Opinions recommended</span></span><h2 class=main-title id=d2092537>References</h2><div class="section ref-list"><a name=d2092330e1092 class=n-a></a><ul><li><a name=ref-1 class=n-a></a><span class=label>1. </span> <span class=citation><a name=d2092330e1099 class=n-a></a>Wáng YX, Arora R, Choi Y, <i> et al.</i>: Implications of Web of Science journal impact factor for scientific output evaluation in 16 institutions and investigators' opinion. <i>Quant Imaging Med Surg.</i> 2014; 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Malaysia<br/> <sup>6</sup> Department of Surgery, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia<br/> <p> </p> </div> </div> <div class=contracted-details> <a href="#" class=section-title>Competing interests</a> <span class="f1r-icon icon-14_more_small section-control"></span> <span class="f1r-icon icon-10_less_small section-control"></span> <div class="expanded-details grant-information article-page is-hidden"> No competing interests were disclosed. </div> </div> <div class=contracted-details> <a href="#" class=section-title>Grant information</a> <span class="f1r-icon icon-14_more_small section-control"></span> <span class="f1r-icon icon-10_less_small section-control"></span> <div class="expanded-details grant-information article-page is-hidden"> The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work. </div> </div> <div class=contracted-details> <a href="#" class=section-title>Article Versions (1)</a> <span 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this report:</div> <span id=cite-report-text-23330-1 data-test-id=mob_report_copy-citation_text> <span class="article-title-and-info in-popup">Nundy S. Reviewer Report For: The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]</span>. <i>F1000Research</i> 2017, <b>6</b>:208 (<a class=new-orange href="https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r23330" target=_blank>https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r23330</a>) </span> <div class=padding-top data-test-id=report-url> The direct URL for this report is:<br> <a href="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-23330" class=new-orange target=_blank>https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-23330</a> </div> <div class="popup-window-title small note margin-top-20 margin-bottom-20"> <strong>NOTE:</strong> it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in this citation. </div> <div class=float-right> <button class="secondary no-fill orange-text-and-border margin-right-20 close-cite-popup uppercase">Close</button> <button class="secondary orange copy-cite-article-version uppercase js-clipboard" title="Copy the current citation details to the clipboard." data-clipboard-target="#cite-report-text-23330-1" data-test-id=mob_report_copy-citation_button>Copy Citation Details</button> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="referee-report-info-box referee-report-details-box"> <span class="bold mobile-report-text">Reviewer Report</span> <span class=mobile-report-info>07 Jun 2017</span> </div> <span class="info-separation padding-bottom padding-left"> <div> <span class=bold>Samiran Nundy<a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1757-3919" target=_blank title="Open ORCID"><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span></a></span><span class=f1r-article-desk-inline>,</span> Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, Delhi, India  </div> </span> <div class="research-layout referee-report-status-line"> <span class="f1r-icon icon-86_approved status-green smaller" title=Approved></span> <span class=status-text>Approved</span> </div> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <span class=article-pubinfo-mobile> <div class="version-info-box views">VIEWS 0</div> </span> </div> <div class=referee-report-content> <div class=hidden-text> <a href="https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r23330" target=_blank>https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r23330</a> </div> <span class=truncated-comment> This is an interesting approach to the vexed question of whether or not it is worthwhile publishing in the now ubiquitous, and commonly regarded inferior, open access journals.<br/> <br/> The authors have convincingly demonstrated that to get more ... <span class="f1r-article-desk-inline continue-reading-container response-and-comment increment-view-count" data-reportID=23330>Continue reading</span> <div class="f1r-article-mobile research-layout margin-top-30 is-centered"> <button class="primary orange-text white-bg bigger-text expand-button-mobile continue-reading-container show with-border"> READ ALL <span class="f1r-icon icon-14_more_small orange vmiddle big"></span> </button> </div> </span> <span class="hidden hidden-report-text"> <div class=hidden-report-text__comment>This is an interesting approach to the vexed question of whether or not it is worthwhile publishing in the now ubiquitous, and commonly regarded inferior, open access journals.<br/> <br/> The authors have convincingly demonstrated that to get more citations it is. Whether or not this will translate into more prestige points towards selection and promotion for e.g.  faculty positions has to be evaluated later. However these are early days to judge this rather novel open access experiment.</div> <div class=md> <div class=questionnaire> <ul class=c-questionnaire> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate? </p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <p style="margin-top: 10px;"><b class=mobile-block-display>Competing Interests:</b> No competing interests were disclosed.</p> <span class="info-separation padding-top padding-bottom comment-statement-mobile"> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <div class="content-divider report-info"></div> </div> <strong> I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. </strong> </span> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <div class="content-divider report-info"></div> </div> <span class="f1r-article-desk hide-comment-container response-and-comment">Close</span> <div class="f1r-article-mobile research-layout margin-top-30 is-centered"> <button class="primary orange-text white-bg bigger-text expand-button-mobile hide-comment-container hide with-border"> READ LESS <span class="f1r-icon icon-10_less_small orange vmiddle big"></span> </button> </div> </span> <div class="f1r-article-mobile cite-report-wrapper"> <a href="#" class=mobile-cite-report>CITE</a> </div> <div class="research-layout mobile-cite-report-popup-wrapper"> <div class=bgmask></div> <div class=mobile-cite-report-popup> <span class="f1r-icon icon-88_not_approved close-cite-report-popup"></span> <div class=cite-report-popup-title>CITE</div> <span class=cite-report-popup-top-content> HOW TO CITE THIS REPORT </span> <div class=cite-report-popup-content> <span class=copy-cite-report id=cite-report-text-mobile-23330-1> <span class=article-title-and-info>Nundy S. Reviewer Report For: The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]</span>. <i>F1000Research</i> 2017, <b>6</b>:208 (<a class=new-orange href="https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r23330" target=_blank>https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r23330</a>) </span> </div> <div class=cite-report-popup-divider></div> <div class=cite-report-popup-content data-test-id=report-url> The direct URL for this report is:<br> <a href="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-23330" class=new-orangetarget=_blank>https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-23330</a> </div> <div class=cite-report-popup-divider></div> <div class=cite-report-popup-content> NOTE: <em>it is important to ensure the information in <b>square brackets after the title</b> is included in all citations of this article.</em> </div> <div class=cite-report-popup-buttons> <button type=button class="primary orange extra-padding copy-cite-report-mobile js-clipboard" title="Copy the current citation details to the clipboard." data-clipboard-target="#cite-report-text-mobile-23330-1" data-test-id=mob_report_copy-citation_button>COPY CITATION DETAILS</button> </div> </div> </div> <div class=report-concern-wrapper> <a class=report-a-concern-link href="mailto:research@f1000.com?subject=Report a concern (10892) ">Report a concern</a> </div> </div> <div class=comments-list-container id=referee-comments-23330-1> <div class=f1r-article-desk> <ul class=all-comment-wrapper data-reportID=23330> <li class="comment-wrapper not-sortable"> <div class="one-comment respond-or-comment"> <a href="/login?originalPath=/articles/6-208/v1&scrollTo=referee-response-23330" class=register-report-comment-button data-test-id=add-response-comment><span class=contracted></span>Respond or Comment</a> </div> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="f1r-article-mobile research-layout"> <ul class=all-comment-wrapper data-reportID=23330> <li class="comment-wrapper not-sortable button-wrapper"> <div class=comment-button-wrapper> <a href="/login?originalPath=/articles/6-208/v1&scrollTo=referee-response-23330" class=register-report-comment-button data-test-id=add-report-comment> <button class="primary orange extra-padding"> COMMENT ON THIS REPORT </button> </a> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="referee-response-container no-border last-report-for-version" data-reportID=20913> <div class="f1r-article-mobile research-layout"> <div class="version-border current"></div> </div> <a name=referee-response-20913></a> <div id=report-metadata-20913 class=is-hidden> <input type=hidden name=reportId value=20913 /> </div> <div class="f1r-article-mobile-inline research-layout float-right margin-right-20"> <span class="f1r-icon-circle-wrapper with-border white-bg big referee-reports"> <span class="f1r-icon icon-86_approved status-green smaller" title=Approved></span> </span> </div> <div class="article-count-box response-and-comment has-shadow"> <div class=comments-count-title>Views</div> <div class=comments-count-container>0</div> <div class="article-interaction-info article-page"> <div class="cite-article-popup-wrapper article-page-interaction-box"> <div class="article-interaction-button cite-article-button" title="Cite this report" data-windowref=cite-report-popup-20913-2> <span class="f1r-icon icon-82_quote"></span> <a href="#" class="button-link cite-article-popup-link response-and-comment" title="Cite Report" data-test-id=cite-report-2>Cite</a> </div> <div id=cite-report-popup-20913-2 class="popup-window-wrapper is-hidden"> <div class=cite-popup-background></div> <div class="popup-window cite-this-article-box research-layout"> <div class="popup-window-title small cite-title">How to cite this report:</div> <span id=cite-report-text-20913-2 data-test-id=mob_report_copy-citation_text> <span class="article-title-and-info in-popup">Diamandis EP. Reviewer Report For: The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]</span>. <i>F1000Research</i> 2017, <b>6</b>:208 (<a class=new-orange href="https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r20913" target=_blank>https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r20913</a>) </span> <div class=padding-top data-test-id=report-url> The direct URL for this report is:<br> <a href="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-20913" class=new-orange target=_blank>https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-20913</a> </div> <div class="popup-window-title small note margin-top-20 margin-bottom-20"> <strong>NOTE:</strong> it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in this citation. </div> <div class=float-right> <button class="secondary no-fill orange-text-and-border margin-right-20 close-cite-popup uppercase">Close</button> <button class="secondary orange copy-cite-article-version uppercase js-clipboard" title="Copy the current citation details to the clipboard." data-clipboard-target="#cite-report-text-20913-2" data-test-id=mob_report_copy-citation_button>Copy Citation Details</button> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="referee-report-info-box referee-report-details-box"> <span class="bold mobile-report-text">Reviewer Report</span> <span class=mobile-report-info>15 Mar 2017</span> </div> <span class="info-separation padding-bottom padding-left"> <div> <span class=bold>Eleftherios P Diamandis<a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1589-820X" target=_blank title="Open ORCID"><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span></a></span><span class=f1r-article-desk-inline>,</span> Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada  </div> </span> <div class="research-layout referee-report-status-line"> <span class="f1r-icon icon-86_approved status-green smaller" title=Approved></span> <span class=status-text>Approved</span> </div> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <span class=article-pubinfo-mobile> <div class="version-info-box views">VIEWS 0</div> </span> </div> <div class=referee-report-content> <div class=hidden-text> <a href="https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r20913" target=_blank>https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r20913</a> </div> <span class=truncated-comment> This is a very interesting article which compares the effect of impact factor on collected citations of papers published in open access and non-open access journals. The major findings of this paper is that the open access journals attract more ... <span class="f1r-article-desk-inline continue-reading-container response-and-comment increment-view-count" data-reportID=20913>Continue reading</span> <div class="f1r-article-mobile research-layout margin-top-30 is-centered"> <button class="primary orange-text white-bg bigger-text expand-button-mobile continue-reading-container show with-border"> READ ALL <span class="f1r-icon icon-14_more_small orange vmiddle big"></span> </button> </div> </span> <span class="hidden hidden-report-text"> <div class=hidden-report-text__comment>This is a very interesting article which compares the effect of impact factor on collected citations of papers published in open access and non-open access journals. The major findings of this paper is that the open access journals attract more citations than non-open access journals and that the impact factor of an open access journal does not significantly affect the number of citations received. On the other hand, it was found that the number of citations increases with impact factor in non-open access journals. These data have implications for authors who wish to publish their research in either open access or non-open access journals, after considering their associated costs.<br/>  <br/> I have no suggestions for further changes of this manuscript except that recently, the findings of the authors have been speculated and/or corroborated with additional publications which should be cited.<br/>   <ol> <li>In a paper published in Clin Chem Lab Med 2009<a href="#rep-ref-20913-1"><sup>1</sup></a>, it has been suggested that the impact factor will go away soon, effectively in full agreement with the finding that at least for open access journals, the impact factor does not affect citations.</li> <li>In a subsequent paper in Clin Chem Lab Med 2013<a href="#rep-ref-20913-2"><sup>2</sup></a>, it has been speculated that journals will act as repositories of information and the impact factor will be irrelevant, further corroborating the findings of this paper that the impact factor of open access journals does not affect citations.</li> <li>Also, in a recent paper in BMC 2017<a href="#rep-ref-20913-3"><sup>3</sup></a>, it is mentioned that the journal impact factor is under attack and another factor is proposed to assess journal quality. I believe that these 3 papers are very relevant to this contribution and should be briefly mentioned in the discussion and cited appropriately. Otherwise this is a nice contribution to the discussion related to journal impact factor and related themes.</li> </ol></div> <p><b>References</b></p> <a name=rep-ref-20913-1></a>1. Diamandis EP: Journal Impact Factor: it will go away soon.<i>Clin Chem Lab Med</i>. 2009; <b>47</b> (11): 1317-8 <a target=_blank href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19778288">PubMed Abstract</a> | <a target=_blank href="https://doi.org/10.1515/CCLM.2009.327">Publisher Full Text</a> <br><a name=rep-ref-20913-2></a>2. Diamandis EP: More discussion on journal impact factor.<i>Clin Chem Lab Med</i>. 2013; <b>51</b> (12): 2271 <a target=_blank href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23907426">PubMed Abstract</a> | <a target=_blank href="https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2013-0515">Publisher Full Text</a> <br><a name=rep-ref-20913-3></a>3. Diamandis E: The Journal Impact Factor is under attack – use the CAPCI factor instead. <i>BMC Medicine</i>. 2017; <b>15</b> (1). <a target=_blank href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-016-0773-5">Publisher Full Text</a> <br> <p style="margin-top: 10px;"><b class=mobile-block-display>Competing Interests:</b> No competing interests were disclosed.</p> <span class="info-separation padding-top padding-bottom comment-statement-mobile"> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <div class="content-divider report-info"></div> </div> <strong> I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. </strong> </span> <div class=f1r-article-mobile> <div class="content-divider report-info"></div> </div> <span class="f1r-article-desk hide-comment-container response-and-comment">Close</span> <div class="f1r-article-mobile research-layout margin-top-30 is-centered"> <button class="primary orange-text white-bg bigger-text expand-button-mobile hide-comment-container hide with-border"> READ LESS <span class="f1r-icon icon-10_less_small orange vmiddle big"></span> </button> </div> </span> <div class="f1r-article-mobile cite-report-wrapper"> <a href="#" class=mobile-cite-report>CITE</a> </div> <div class="research-layout mobile-cite-report-popup-wrapper"> <div class=bgmask></div> <div class=mobile-cite-report-popup> <span class="f1r-icon icon-88_not_approved close-cite-report-popup"></span> <div class=cite-report-popup-title>CITE</div> <span class=cite-report-popup-top-content> HOW TO CITE THIS REPORT </span> <div class=cite-report-popup-content> <span class=copy-cite-report id=cite-report-text-mobile-20913-2> <span class=article-title-and-info>Diamandis EP. 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<span class=bold>Samiran Nundy<a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1757-3919" target=_blank title="Open ORCID"><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span></a></span><span class=f1r-article-desk-inline>,</span> Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, Delhi, India  </div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mt--2 u-mb--2 u-hide@expanded"> </header> <div class="o-layout__item c-referee-report__actions u-mb--2"> <span class="t-body u-weight--rg js-report-view-count u-mt--0 u-mb--1 u-black--medium u-show@expanded"><span class=js-referee-report-views>0</span> Views</span> <div id=copyrightInfo class="c-block-tip p-article__sidebar-tooltip c-block-tip--below c-block-tip--small-arrow u-show@expanded u-fr"> <button type=button class="c-button c-button--icon c-button--text c-block-tip__toggle"><i class="material-icons c-button--icon__icon">copyright</i></button> <div class="c-block-tip__content u-fs--normal"> <span class=u-weight--bd>© 2017 Nundy S.</span> This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target=_blank>Creative Commons Attribution License</a>, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. </div> </div> <a class="u-block c-link--basic u-mb--1 js-route" data-path="/reports/23330/cite" href="#" data-test-id=article_referee-report_cite-link><i class="material-icons c-link__icon">format_quote</i> <span class="u-ml--1 c-link__text">Cite this report</span></a> <a href="#report-responses-23330" class="u-block c-link--basic u-mb--1/2 js-route" data-path="/reports/23330/responses" href="#" data-test-id=article_referee-report_responses-link><i class="material-icons c-link__icon">speaker_notes</i> <span class="u-ml--1 u-mr--1/2 c-link__text u-ib">Responses</span><span class="u-black--medium u-ib u-middle">(0)</span></a> </div> <div class="u-mb--1 u-show@expanded"></div> </div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mt--0 u-mb--2"> <div class="o-actions o-actions--middle u-mb--1"> <div class="o-actions__primary p-article__color--dark"> <i class="c-icn--f1r-icon c-icn--approved " title=Approved #data-refInfo=20818-23330></i> <span class="p-article__report-status t-caption u-upper-spacing u-upper u-ib u-middle u-weight--md">Approved</span> </div> <div class="o-actions__secondary _mdl-layout"> <div class="c-block-tip p-article__sidebar-tooltip c-block-tip--below c-block-tip--small-arrow c-block-tip--sm-padding"> <button type=button class="c-button c-button--icon c-button--text c-block-tip__toggle"><i class="material-icons c-button--icon__icon">info_outline</i></button> <div class=c-block-tip__content> <p class="t-body u-mt--0 u-mb--0"><em class=u-weight--md>Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:</em></p> <dl class=c-definitions> <dt class="c-definitions__term u-upper t-control u-weight--md u-black--high"><span class="u-ib u-middle"> <i class="c-icn--f1r-icon c-icn--approved " title=Approved #data-refInfo=""></i> </span> <span class="u-middle u-ib u-ml--1/2">Approved</span></dt> <dd class="c-definitions__description t-caption">The paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested</dd> <dt class="c-definitions__term u-upper t-control u-weight--md u-black--high"><span class="u-ib u-middle"> <i class="c-icn--f1r-icon c-icn--reservations" title="Approved with Reservations" #data-refInfo=""></i> </span> <span class="u-middle u-ib u-ml--1/2">Approved with reservations</span></dt> <dd class="c-definitions__description t-caption"> A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. </dd> <dt class="c-definitions__term u-upper t-control u-weight--md u-black--high"><span class="u-ib u-middle"> <i class="c-icn--f1r-icon c-icn--not-approved " title="Not Approved" #data-refInfo=""></i> </span> <span class="u-middle u-ib u-ml--1/2">Not approved</span></dt> <dd class="c-definitions__description t-caption">Fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions</dd> </dl> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="">This is an interesting approach to the vexed question of whether or not it is worthwhile publishing in the now ubiquitous, and commonly regarded inferior, open access journals.<br/> <br/> The authors have convincingly demonstrated that to get more citations it is. Whether or not this will translate into more prestige points towards selection and promotion for e.g.  faculty positions has to be evaluated later. However these are early days to judge this rather novel open access experiment.</div> <div class=u-mb--2> <div class=md> <div class=questionnaire> <ul class=c-questionnaire> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate? </p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> <li class=c-questionnaire__item> <p class=c-questionnaire__question>Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?</p> <p class=c-questionnaire__answer>Yes</p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mb--2"> <h5 class="t-body u-weight--md u-mt--0 u-mb--1/2">Competing Interests</h5> <p class="u-mt--0 u-mb--2 u-italic">No competing interests were disclosed.</p> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mb--3"> <p class="u-mb--3 u-mt--0"> <strong> I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. </strong> </p> <div class="_mdl-layout u-mb--3"> <a href="/login?originalPath=/articles/6-208/v1&scrollTo=referee-response-23330" class="u-1/1 mdl-button mdl-js-button mdl-button--outline mdl-button--multi-line mdl-button--colored mdl-button--white-ish" data-test-id=article_referee-report_respond><i class="material-icons u-ib u-middle">reply</i><span class="p-article__sidebar-report-respond-text u-ib u-middle">Respond to this report</span></a> </div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low c-hr--md u-mb--3"> <section id=report-responses-23330> <h4 class="t-h3 u-weight--md u-mb--2 u-mt--0">Responses <span class="u-weight--rg u-black--medium t-body">(0)</span></h4> </section> <script type="text/template" data-template=refereeReportCitation-23330 id=refereeReportCitation-23330 class=u-hide> <div class="u-black--high"> <p id="referee-report-citation" data-test-id="report_copy-citation_text" >Nundy S. Peer Review Report For: The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]</span>. <i>F1000Research</i> 2017, <b>6</b>:208 (<a class="new-orange" href="https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r23330" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r23330)</a></p> <p class="c-modal__flush u-pl u-pr u-pt--3/2 u-pb--3/2 u-red u-bg--12"><strong>NOTE:</strong> it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in this citation.</p> <p class="t-body">The direct URL for this report is: <br><a href="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-23330" target="_blank">https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-23330</a></p> </div> </script> </aside> </div> <div class="p-article__sidebar-view u-pl u-hide js-article-sidebar-view" data-view=report-20913> <a class="u-block js-route js-article-sidebar-view-fixed-header c-link--basic p-article__sidebar-back" href="#" data-path="/"><i class="material-icons c-link__icon">keyboard_arrow_left</i> <span class=c-link__text>Back to all reports</span></a> <aside class="c-referee-report js-referee-report t-body u-pr--2 u-pb--8" data-reportid=20913 data-test-id=article_referee_report> <div class=o-layout> <header class="o-layout__item c-referee-report__header"> <div class="o-actions o-actions--middle u-mb--1"> <div class=o-actions__primary> <h2 class="t-h3 u-weight--md u-mb--0 u-mt--0">Reviewer Report</h2> </div> <div class="o-actions__secondary u-hide@expanded"> <span class="t-body u-weight--rg js-report-view-count u-ml--1 u-black--medium"><span class=js-referee-report-views>0</span> Views</span> </div> <div class="o-actions__secondary u-hide@expanded"> <div class="c-block-tip p-article__sidebar-tooltip c-block-tip--below c-block-tip--small-arrow c-block-tip--sm-padding"> <button type=button class="c-button c-button--icon c-button--text c-block-tip__toggle"><i class="material-icons c-button--icon__icon">copyright</i></button> <div class="c-block-tip__content u-fs--normal"> <span class=u-weight--bd>© 2017 Diamandis E.</span> This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target=_blank>Creative Commons Attribution License</a>, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. </div> </div> </div> </div> <p class="u-black--medium u-mt--0 u-mb--1"><em>15 Mar 2017 | for Version 1</em></p> <div class="u-mb--1/2"> <span class=bold>Eleftherios P Diamandis<a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1589-820X" target=_blank title="Open ORCID"><span class=orcid-logo-for-author-list></span></a></span><span class=f1r-article-desk-inline>,</span> Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada  </div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mt--2 u-mb--2 u-hide@expanded"> </header> <div class="o-layout__item c-referee-report__actions u-mb--2"> <span class="t-body u-weight--rg js-report-view-count u-mt--0 u-mb--1 u-black--medium u-show@expanded"><span class=js-referee-report-views>0</span> Views</span> <div id=copyrightInfo class="c-block-tip p-article__sidebar-tooltip c-block-tip--below c-block-tip--small-arrow u-show@expanded u-fr"> <button type=button class="c-button c-button--icon c-button--text c-block-tip__toggle"><i class="material-icons c-button--icon__icon">copyright</i></button> <div class="c-block-tip__content u-fs--normal"> <span class=u-weight--bd>© 2017 Diamandis E.</span> This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target=_blank>Creative Commons Attribution License</a>, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. </div> </div> <a class="u-block c-link--basic u-mb--1 js-route" data-path="/reports/20913/cite" href="#" data-test-id=article_referee-report_cite-link><i class="material-icons c-link__icon">format_quote</i> <span class="u-ml--1 c-link__text">Cite this report</span></a> <a href="#report-responses-20913" class="u-block c-link--basic u-mb--1/2 js-route" data-path="/reports/20913/responses" href="#" data-test-id=article_referee-report_responses-link><i class="material-icons c-link__icon">speaker_notes</i> <span class="u-ml--1 u-mr--1/2 c-link__text u-ib">Responses</span><span class="u-black--medium u-ib u-middle">(0)</span></a> </div> <div class="u-mb--1 u-show@expanded"></div> </div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mt--0 u-mb--2"> <div class="o-actions o-actions--middle u-mb--1"> <div class="o-actions__primary p-article__color--dark"> <i class="c-icn--f1r-icon c-icn--approved " title=Approved #data-refInfo=20818-23330></i> <span class="p-article__report-status t-caption u-upper-spacing u-upper u-ib u-middle u-weight--md">Approved</span> </div> <div class="o-actions__secondary _mdl-layout"> <div class="c-block-tip p-article__sidebar-tooltip c-block-tip--below c-block-tip--small-arrow c-block-tip--sm-padding"> <button type=button class="c-button c-button--icon c-button--text c-block-tip__toggle"><i class="material-icons c-button--icon__icon">info_outline</i></button> <div class=c-block-tip__content> <p class="t-body u-mt--0 u-mb--0"><em class=u-weight--md>Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:</em></p> <dl class=c-definitions> <dt class="c-definitions__term u-upper t-control u-weight--md u-black--high"><span class="u-ib u-middle"> <i class="c-icn--f1r-icon c-icn--approved " title=Approved #data-refInfo=""></i> </span> <span class="u-middle u-ib u-ml--1/2">Approved</span></dt> <dd class="c-definitions__description t-caption">The paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested</dd> <dt class="c-definitions__term u-upper t-control u-weight--md u-black--high"><span class="u-ib u-middle"> <i class="c-icn--f1r-icon c-icn--reservations" title="Approved with Reservations" #data-refInfo=""></i> </span> <span class="u-middle u-ib u-ml--1/2">Approved with reservations</span></dt> <dd class="c-definitions__description t-caption"> A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. </dd> <dt class="c-definitions__term u-upper t-control u-weight--md u-black--high"><span class="u-ib u-middle"> <i class="c-icn--f1r-icon c-icn--not-approved " title="Not Approved" #data-refInfo=""></i> </span> <span class="u-middle u-ib u-ml--1/2">Not approved</span></dt> <dd class="c-definitions__description t-caption">Fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions</dd> </dl> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="">This is a very interesting article which compares the effect of impact factor on collected citations of papers published in open access and non-open access journals. The major findings of this paper is that the open access journals attract more citations than non-open access journals and that the impact factor of an open access journal does not significantly affect the number of citations received. On the other hand, it was found that the number of citations increases with impact factor in non-open access journals. These data have implications for authors who wish to publish their research in either open access or non-open access journals, after considering their associated costs.<br/>  <br/> I have no suggestions for further changes of this manuscript except that recently, the findings of the authors have been speculated and/or corroborated with additional publications which should be cited.<br/>   <ol> <li>In a paper published in Clin Chem Lab Med 2009<a href="#rep-ref-20913-1"><sup>1</sup></a>, it has been suggested that the impact factor will go away soon, effectively in full agreement with the finding that at least for open access journals, the impact factor does not affect citations.</li> <li>In a subsequent paper in Clin Chem Lab Med 2013<a href="#rep-ref-20913-2"><sup>2</sup></a>, it has been speculated that journals will act as repositories of information and the impact factor will be irrelevant, further corroborating the findings of this paper that the impact factor of open access journals does not affect citations.</li> <li>Also, in a recent paper in BMC 2017<a href="#rep-ref-20913-3"><sup>3</sup></a>, it is mentioned that the journal impact factor is under attack and another factor is proposed to assess journal quality. I believe that these 3 papers are very relevant to this contribution and should be briefly mentioned in the discussion and cited appropriately. Otherwise this is a nice contribution to the discussion related to journal impact factor and related themes.</li> </ol></div> <div class=u-mb--2> </div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mb--2"> <h5 class="t-body u-weight--md u-mt--0 u-mb--1/2"><b>References</b></h5> <div class=u-mb--2><a name=rep-ref-20913-1></a>1. Diamandis EP: Journal Impact Factor: it will go away soon.<i>Clin Chem Lab Med</i>. 2009; <b>47</b> (11): 1317-8 <a target=_blank href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19778288">PubMed Abstract</a> | <a target=_blank href="https://doi.org/10.1515/CCLM.2009.327">Publisher Full Text</a> <br><a name=rep-ref-20913-2></a>2. Diamandis EP: More discussion on journal impact factor.<i>Clin Chem Lab Med</i>. 2013; <b>51</b> (12): 2271 <a target=_blank href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23907426">PubMed Abstract</a> | <a target=_blank href="https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2013-0515">Publisher Full Text</a> <br><a name=rep-ref-20913-3></a>3. Diamandis E: The Journal Impact Factor is under attack – use the CAPCI factor instead. <i>BMC Medicine</i>. 2017; <b>15</b> (1). <a target=_blank href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-016-0773-5">Publisher Full Text</a> <br></div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mb--2"> <h5 class="t-body u-weight--md u-mt--0 u-mb--1/2">Competing Interests</h5> <p class="u-mt--0 u-mb--2 u-italic">No competing interests were disclosed.</p> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low u-mb--3"> <p class="u-mb--3 u-mt--0"> <strong> I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. </strong> </p> <div class="_mdl-layout u-mb--3"> <a href="/login?originalPath=/articles/6-208/v1&scrollTo=referee-response-20913" class="u-1/1 mdl-button mdl-js-button mdl-button--outline mdl-button--multi-line mdl-button--colored mdl-button--white-ish" data-test-id=article_referee-report_respond><i class="material-icons u-ib u-middle">reply</i><span class="p-article__sidebar-report-respond-text u-ib u-middle">Respond to this report</span></a> </div> <hr class="c-hr c-hr--low c-hr--md u-mb--3"> <section id=report-responses-20913> <h4 class="t-h3 u-weight--md u-mb--2 u-mt--0">Responses <span class="u-weight--rg u-black--medium t-body">(0)</span></h4> </section> <script type="text/template" data-template=refereeReportCitation-20913 id=refereeReportCitation-20913 class=u-hide> <div class="u-black--high"> <p id="referee-report-citation" data-test-id="report_copy-citation_text" >Diamandis EP. Peer Review Report For: The impact factor of an open access journal does not contribute to an article’s citations [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]</span>. <i>F1000Research</i> 2017, <b>6</b>:208 (<a class="new-orange" href="https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r20913" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.11743.r20913)</a></p> <p class="c-modal__flush u-pl u-pr u-pt--3/2 u-pb--3/2 u-red u-bg--12"><strong>NOTE:</strong> it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in this citation.</p> <p class="t-body">The direct URL for this report is: <br><a href="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-20913" target="_blank">https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1#referee-response-20913</a></p> </div> </script> </aside> </div> </div> <script src="/js/shared_scripts/modal-dialogue.js"></script> <script src="/js/shared_scripts/read-more.js"></script> <script src="/js/article/article-router.js"></script> <script src="/js/article/article-sidebar.js"></script> <script src="/js/referee/new/referee_helpers.js"></script> <script src="/js/article/article-column-toggle.js"></script> </div> </div> </div> </main> <input type=hidden id=_articleVersionUrl value="https://f1000research.com/articles/6-208/v1/"> <div class=research-help id=about-referee-status> <div class="research-layout research-help-content about-referee-status"> <span class="close-research-help dark-cross" title=Close></span> Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article: <div class="cf research-help-row"> <span class="f1r-icon icon-86_approved status-green smaller" title=Approved></span> <span class=research-help-text>Approved - the paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested</span> </div> <div class="cf research-help-row"> <span class="f1r-icon icon-87_approved_reservations status-green smaller" title="Approved with Reservations"></span> <span class=research-help-text>Approved with reservations - A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. </span> </div> <div class="cf research-help-row"> <span class="f1r-icon icon-88_not_approved status-red small" title="Not Approved"></span> <span class=research-help-text>Not approved - fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions</span> </div> </div> </div> <div id=datasets-info class=is-hidden> </div> <div class=article-interactive-content-container style="display: none;"> <a name=f-template class=n-a></a> <div class="interactive-content-wrapper padding-20"> <img src="" class=interactive-content-image title="Open the interactive image display"> <div class=interactive-content-title></div> <div class=interactive-content-text></div> <div class="f1r-article-desk interactive-content-ribbon" data-interactive-content-type=R-Script> <div class=interactive-content-label>Adjust parameters to alter display</div> <div class=interactive-content-button></div> </div> <div class="f1r-article-mobile mobile-interactive-note"> View on desktop for interactive features <img src="/img/icon/interactive_content.png" class="float-right margin-right-40"/> </div> <div class=clearfix></div> </div> </div> <div id=article-interactive-omero-container class=article-interactive-omero-container style="display: none;"> <div class=interactive-content-wrapper> <div class="interactive-omero-button omero-content" title="Open the interactive content window." data-interactive-content-type=Omero></div> <div class=has-interactive-content-image> <span class=box-arrow></span> <span class=box-middle>Includes Interactive Elements</span> <span class=box-end></span> </div> <div class="fig panel clearfix" style="margin: 0; padding-bottom: 20px;"> <a name=templatelink class=n-a></a> <a target=_blank href="" class=link-for-omero-image> <img src="" class=interactive-omero-image title="Open the image display window."> </a> <div class=caption> <div class=interactive-content-title></div> <div class=interactive-content-text></div> </div> <div class="is-hidden omero-image-list"></div> </div> <div class="f1r-article-mobile mobile-interactive-note omero"> View on desktop for interactive features <img src="/img/icon/interactive_content.png" class="float-right margin-right-40"/> </div> <div class=clearfix></div> </div> </div> <div class="modal-window-wrapper is-hidden"> <div id=conflicts-interests class="modal-window padding-20"> <div class=modal-window__content> <h2 class=h2-title>Competing Interests Policy</h2> <p> Provide sufficient details of any financial or non-financial competing interests to enable users to assess whether your comments might lead a reasonable person to question your impartiality. 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data-country-code=HR>Croatia</option> <option value=CU data-country-code=CU>Cuba</option> <option value=CY data-country-code=CY>Cyprus</option> <option value=CZ data-country-code=CZ>Czech Republic</option> <option value=CD data-country-code=CD>Democratic Republic of the Congo</option> <option value=DK data-country-code=DK>Denmark</option> <option value=DJ data-country-code=DJ>Djibouti</option> <option value=DM data-country-code=DM>Dominica</option> <option value=DO data-country-code=DO>Dominican Republic</option> <option value=EC data-country-code=EC>Ecuador</option> <option value=EG data-country-code=EG>Egypt</option> <option value=SV data-country-code=SV>El Salvador</option> <option value=GQ data-country-code=GQ>Equatorial Guinea</option> <option value=ER data-country-code=ER>Eritrea</option> <option value=EE data-country-code=EE>Estonia</option> <option value=ET data-country-code=ET>Ethiopia</option> <option value=FK data-country-code=FK>Falkland Islands</option> <option value=FO 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data-country-code=GU>Guam</option> <option value=GT data-country-code=GT>Guatemala</option> <option value=GG data-country-code=GG>Guernsey</option> <option value=GN data-country-code=GN>Guinea</option> <option value=GW data-country-code=GW>Guinea-Bissau</option> <option value=GY data-country-code=GY>Guyana</option> <option value=HT data-country-code=HT>Haiti</option> <option value=HM data-country-code=HM>Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands</option> <option value=VA data-country-code=VA>Holy See (Vatican City State)</option> <option value=HN data-country-code=HN>Honduras</option> <option value=HK data-country-code=HK>Hong Kong</option> <option value=HU data-country-code=HU>Hungary</option> <option value=IS data-country-code=IS>Iceland</option> <option value=IN data-country-code=IN>India</option> <option value=ID data-country-code=ID>Indonesia</option> <option value=IR data-country-code=IR>Iran</option> <option value=IQ data-country-code=IQ>Iraq</option> <option value=IE data-country-code=IE>Ireland</option> <option value=IL data-country-code=IL>Israel</option> <option value=IT data-country-code=IT>Italy</option> <option value=JM data-country-code=JM>Jamaica</option> <option value=JP data-country-code=JP>Japan</option> <option value=JE data-country-code=JE>Jersey</option> <option value=JO data-country-code=JO>Jordan</option> <option value=KZ data-country-code=KZ>Kazakhstan</option> <option value=KE data-country-code=KE>Kenya</option> <option value=KI data-country-code=KI>Kiribati</option> <option value=XK data-country-code=XK>Kosovo (Serbia and Montenegro)</option> <option value=KW data-country-code=KW>Kuwait</option> <option value=KG data-country-code=KG>Kyrgyzstan</option> <option value=LA data-country-code=LA>Lao People's Democratic Republic</option> <option value=LV data-country-code=LV>Latvia</option> <option value=LB data-country-code=LB>Lebanon</option> <option value=LS data-country-code=LS>Lesotho</option> <option value=LR data-country-code=LR>Liberia</option> <option value=LY data-country-code=LY>Libya</option> <option value=LI data-country-code=LI>Liechtenstein</option> <option value=LT data-country-code=LT>Lithuania</option> <option value=LU data-country-code=LU>Luxembourg</option> <option value=MO data-country-code=MO>Macao</option> <option value=MG data-country-code=MG>Madagascar</option> <option value=MW data-country-code=MW>Malawi</option> <option value=MY data-country-code=MY>Malaysia</option> <option value=MV data-country-code=MV>Maldives</option> <option value=ML data-country-code=ML>Mali</option> <option value=MT data-country-code=MT>Malta</option> <option value=MH data-country-code=MH>Marshall Islands</option> <option value=MQ data-country-code=MQ>Martinique</option> <option value=MR data-country-code=MR>Mauritania</option> <option value=MU data-country-code=MU>Mauritius</option> <option value=YT data-country-code=YT>Mayotte</option> <option value=MX data-country-code=MX>Mexico</option> <option value=UM data-country-code=UM>Minor Outlying Islands of the United States</option> <option value=MD data-country-code=MD>Moldova</option> <option value=MC data-country-code=MC>Monaco</option> <option value=MN data-country-code=MN>Mongolia</option> <option value=ME data-country-code=ME>Montenegro</option> <option value=MS data-country-code=MS>Montserrat</option> <option value=MA data-country-code=MA>Morocco</option> <option value=MZ data-country-code=MZ>Mozambique</option> <option value=MM data-country-code=MM>Myanmar</option> <option value=NA data-country-code=NA>Namibia</option> <option value=NR data-country-code=NR>Nauru</option> <option value=NP data-country-code=NP>Nepal</option> <option value=AN data-country-code=AN>Netherlands Antilles</option> <option value=NC data-country-code=NC>New Caledonia</option> <option value=NZ data-country-code=NZ>New Zealand</option> <option value=NI data-country-code=NI>Nicaragua</option> <option value=NE data-country-code=NE>Niger</option> <option value=NG data-country-code=NG>Nigeria</option> <option value=NU data-country-code=NU>Niue</option> <option value=NF data-country-code=NF>Norfolk Island</option> <option value=KP data-country-code=KP>North Korea</option> <option value=MK data-country-code=MK>North Macedonia</option> <option value=MP data-country-code=MP>Northern Mariana Islands</option> <option value=NO data-country-code=NO>Norway</option> <option value=OM data-country-code=OM>Oman</option> <option value=PK data-country-code=PK>Pakistan</option> <option value=PW data-country-code=PW>Palau</option> <option value=PS data-country-code=PS>Palestinian Territory</option> <option value=PA data-country-code=PA>Panama</option> <option value=PG data-country-code=PG>Papua New Guinea</option> <option value=PY data-country-code=PY>Paraguay</option> <option value=PE data-country-code=PE>Peru</option> <option value=PH data-country-code=PH>Philippines</option> <option value=PN data-country-code=PN>Pitcairn</option> <option value=PL data-country-code=PL>Poland</option> <option value=PT data-country-code=PT>Portugal</option> <option value=PR data-country-code=PR>Puerto Rico</option> <option value=QA data-country-code=QA>Qatar</option> <option value=RE data-country-code=RE>Reunion</option> <option value=RO data-country-code=RO>Romania</option> <option value=RU data-country-code=RU>Russian Federation</option> <option value=RW data-country-code=RW>Rwanda</option> <option value=SH data-country-code=SH>Saint Helena</option> <option value=KN data-country-code=KN>Saint Kitts and Nevis</option> <option value=LC data-country-code=LC>Saint Lucia</option> <option value=PM data-country-code=PM>Saint Pierre and Miquelon</option> <option value=VC data-country-code=VC>Saint Vincent and the Grenadines</option> <option value=WS data-country-code=WS>Samoa</option> <option value=SM data-country-code=SM>San Marino</option> <option value=ST data-country-code=ST>Sao Tome and Principe</option> <option value=SA data-country-code=SA>Saudi Arabia</option> <option value=SN data-country-code=SN>Senegal</option> <option value=RS data-country-code=RS>Serbia</option> <option value=SC data-country-code=SC>Seychelles</option> <option value=SL data-country-code=SL>Sierra Leone</option> <option value=SG data-country-code=SG>Singapore</option> <option value=SK data-country-code=SK>Slovakia</option> <option value=SI data-country-code=SI>Slovenia</option> <option value=SB data-country-code=SB>Solomon Islands</option> <option value=SO data-country-code=SO>Somalia</option> <option value=ZA data-country-code=ZA>South Africa</option> <option value=GS data-country-code=GS>South Georgia and the South Sandwich Is</option> <option value=KR data-country-code=KR>South Korea</option> <option value=SS data-country-code=SS>South Sudan</option> <option value=ES data-country-code=ES>Spain</option> <option value=LK data-country-code=LK>Sri Lanka</option> <option value=SD data-country-code=SD>Sudan</option> <option value=SR data-country-code=SR>Suriname</option> <option value=SJ data-country-code=SJ>Svalbard and Jan Mayen</option> <option value=SZ data-country-code=SZ>Swaziland</option> <option value=SE data-country-code=SE>Sweden</option> <option value=CH data-country-code=CH>Switzerland</option> <option value=SY data-country-code=SY>Syria</option> <option value=TW data-country-code=TW>Taiwan</option> <option value=TJ data-country-code=TJ>Tajikistan</option> <option value=TZ data-country-code=TZ>Tanzania</option> <option value=TH data-country-code=TH>Thailand</option> <option value=GM data-country-code=GM>The Gambia</option> <option value=NL data-country-code=NL>The Netherlands</option> <option value=TL data-country-code=TL>Timor-Leste</option> <option value=TG data-country-code=TG>Togo</option> <option value=TK data-country-code=TK>Tokelau</option> <option value=TO data-country-code=TO>Tonga</option> <option value=TT data-country-code=TT>Trinidad and Tobago</option> <option value=TN data-country-code=TN>Tunisia</option> <option value=TR data-country-code=TR>Turkey</option> <option value=TM data-country-code=TM>Turkmenistan</option> <option value=TC data-country-code=TC>Turks and Caicos Islands</option> <option value=TV data-country-code=TV>Tuvalu</option> <option value=GB data-country-code=GB>UK</option> <option value=US data-country-code=US>USA</option> <option value=UG data-country-code=UG>Uganda</option> <option value=UA data-country-code=UA>Ukraine</option> <option value=AE data-country-code=AE>United Arab Emirates</option> <option value=VI data-country-code=VI>United States Virgin Islands</option> <option value=UY data-country-code=UY>Uruguay</option> <option value=UZ data-country-code=UZ>Uzbekistan</option> <option value=VU data-country-code=VU>Vanuatu</option> <option value=VE data-country-code=VE>Venezuela</option> <option value=VN data-country-code=VN>Vietnam</option> <option value=WF data-country-code=WF>Wallis and Futuna</option> <option value=ZZ 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