Progress of self-archiving within the DML corpus, with a view toward community dynamics

Abstract

Self-archiving has developed as a key component to realize Open Access within the DML framework, with the arXiv being by far the most widely used platform. Important features like full-text formula search are facilitated by the openly available LATEX sources. However, despite the obvious growth of the arXiv corpus, it is not clear what share of the published mathematical literature is already openly accessible in this way, and whether it might eventually converge to full coverage. We present the methodology of the matching procedure of the zbMATH corpus (comprising most of the published math literature since 1868) to the arXiv, and derive from the granular zbMATH data a detailed analysis of the progress of self-archiving within the different mathematical communities, taking into account subject specifics, publication delays, peer review policies, and author networks, among other things. On this basis we give some projections of future developments.