Objective: To determine the proportion of indexed ophthalmology journals with article processing charges (APCs) and potential factors associated with APCs.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Participants: Web of Science-indexed Ophthalmology journals in 2019.
Methods: Indexed ophthalmology journal web sites were reviewed to obtain information on APCs, impact factor (IF), publication mode, publisher type, journal affiliation, waiver discount, and continent of origin. For data unavailable on the web site, the journal was contacted. Journal publication mode was categorized into subscription, fully open access, and hybrid (open access and subscription combined). Linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between APCs and the above variables.
Main outcome measure: Proportion of ophthalmology journals with APCs.
Results: 59 indexed ophthalmology journals were identified; 3 (5.1%) subscription only, 10 (16.9%) open access, and 46 (78.0%) hybrid. Overall 52/59 (88.1%) journals had APCs; 10 of 59 journals (16.9%) required APCs for publication (7 fully open access and 3 hybrid journals), whereas 42/59 (71.2%, all hybrid journals) had optional APCs for open access. The 7/59 journals (11.9%) without APCs included 100% (3/3) of the subscription-only journals, 30% (3/10) of the open access, and 2% (1/46) of the hybrid journals. The mean cost for journals with APCs was US$2854 ± 708.9 (range US$490-5000). Higher IF, publication mode, and commercial publishers were associated with higher APCs.
Conclusions: 16.9% of indexed ophthalmology journals in 2019 required APCs, and additional 71.2% hybrid journals had APCs for the option of open access. Independent predictors of APCs were IF and publication mode.
Copyright © 2020 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.