Open-Access Publishing in Special Education Journals: A Multi-Level Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Access to published, peer-reviewed articles in special education is important to researchers and practitioners alike. However, much of the published literature base lies behind paywalls, inaccessible to many potential consumers. Although researchers can make their published work openly accessible in multiple ways, there is limited information on (a) the prevalence of open-access publishing, (b) predictors of open-access publishing, and (c) the costs of and options for accessing paywalled articles in special education. To address these gaps in the literature, we conducted a bibliometric analysis examining articles published in 2022 in 43 special education journals (n = 1,678). In all, 55% of articles were openly accessible; results of a series of two-level logistic regression models indicated that funding for research, non-U.S. corresponding authors, and journal impact factor were positively associated with open-access publishing; and the average cost to access a paywalled article was approximately $36. Implications for equity, scientific progress, and the research-to-practice gap are discussed.