Scholarly journal publishing and open access in South Korea

Abstract

This study examines the publishing for 1,437 Korean journals classified by publisher types and disciplines. The aim of the analysis is to understand the status of the journal publishing and the level of open access in Korea. The results show that society publishers are the majority in Korea, commercial publishers predominating in most advanced countries. More than half of the Korean journals for science, technology and medicine (STM) are open access. The study explains why open access is widespread particularly in Korea and suggests the STM journals be published in English for international recognition and impact. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.