The relationship between open access article publishing and short-term citations in ophthalmology

Purpose: In recent years academic journals have increasingly transitioned to a paid open access (OA) model. The present study aims to identify whether OA or subscription access (SA) influences short-term citations of articles in ophthalmology. Methods: The Dimensions database was queried in October 2022 for articles published in 2019 in the following journals with both open and subscription access options: Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology, JAMA Ophthalmology, Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, and British Journal of Ophthalmology. Article access, citations, country, article type (review, letter/viewpoint/comment, original investigation), study type (basic science/animal model, case report/series, clinical trial, NA, observational) and subspecialty topic were recorded. Articles with a minimum of 5 citations were included. Results: 509 OA and 602 SA publications were included. The majority of articles were US-based (37.6%), observational (57.9%) original investigations (88.8%) that were focused on retina/uveitis (40.4%). There was a significant difference between the mean number of SA citations versus OA publications between original investigations (15.86 vs 25.3 respectively, P < .001) and all articles (16.29 vs 25.04 respectively, P < .001). According to multivariate Poisson modeling, SA status is significantly associated with a lesser number of citations compared to OA articles after adjusting for journal, article type, and subspecialty topic (β=-.284, 95% CI= -.313, -.254, P< .001). Conclusions: Our results indicate a significant association between SA and decreased short-term citations compared to OA articles. Increasing article accessibility and decreasing financial barriers to publishing with OA may facilitate enhanced diffusion and impact of information in ophthalmology.