Does the open science environment enhance the impact of academic papers? An analysis of indicator relationships using causal inference

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate the causal nexus between the open science environment and academic paper impact. It is crucial for enhancing visibility and influence, promoting research dissemination and application, fostering academic collaboration, and addressing societal needs and sustainable development goals. Design/methodology/approach This paper delves into the open science environment, using COVID-19-related academic papers as the research sample and incorporating both 9,901 bibliometric indicators data and 1.3 million altmetric indicators data. It employs propensity score matching and negative binomial regression analysis to investigate the correlation between the open science environment and the impact of academic papers. Findings It is found that there is a causal relationship between the open science environment and academic paper impact, significantly enhancing both the societal and academic impact of academic papers. Specifically, in the case of OA, the open science environment on average increases academic paper mentions by 3.50 times on News platforms, 89.82 times on X, 42.53 readings on Mendeley and 28.74 citations on Dimensions. The impact of Mendeley readings on Dimensions citations is more pronounced compared to the social media indicator of X mentions. Therefore, in the era of open science, countries should further refine OA models and promote informal scientific communication to enhance the impact of academic papers, thereby advancing the ongoing global open science initiatives. Originality/value This paper introduces a causal inference perspective to reveal the potential effects of open science environment on the impact enhancement for academic papers. To ensure that the observed increase in academic paper impact is attributable to the open science environment and not to other potential variables, this study selects covariates from multiple aspects. This approach offers a more comprehensive and reasonable explanation for the impact of the open science environment on academic papers. Additionally, by investigating the intrinsic motivations for enhancing academic impact within open science environment, this study further deepens the understanding of its potential effects, providing important theoretical guidance for increasing the impact of academic papers.