Open peer review correlates with altmetrics but not with citations: Evidence from Nature Communications and PLoS One

•Articles with open peer review performed better in altmetrics but not in citations.•Delayed information sharing after peer review is not acceptable for researchers.•Popular disciplines receive more attention and are highly keen on open peer review. Against the backdrop of increasing transparency in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of informetrics 2024-08, Vol.18 (3), p.101540, Article 101540
Main Authors: Cheng, Xi, Wang, Haoran, Tang, Li, Jiang, Weiyan, Zhou, Maotian, Wang, Guoyan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altmetrics
Citations
Open identity
Open peer review
Open report
Open science
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:•Articles with open peer review performed better in altmetrics but not in citations.•Delayed information sharing after peer review is not acceptable for researchers.•Popular disciplines receive more attention and are highly keen on open peer review. Against the backdrop of increasing transparency in scientific publications and the complexity of citation motivations, the applicability and efficacy of open peer review (OPR) remain controversial. Utilizing a dataset of citations and altmetrics for all articles published in Nature Communications and PloS One, in this study the impact of OPR is investigated from the dimensions of open review reports and open identity reviewers. The analysis reveals articles subjected to OPR have no obvious advantage in citations but a notable higher score in altmetrics. The distribution of data variation across most disciplines, displaying a statistically significant difference between OPR and non-OPR, mirrors the overall trend. Two potential explanations for the disparity in OPR's impact on citations compared to altmetrics are proposed. The first relates to the quality heterogeneity between OPR and non-OPR research, while the second is related to the diverse authors citing and mentioning articles in distinct communities. This study's findings carry policy implications for future OPR practices.
ISSN:1751-1577
DOI:10.1016/j.joi.2024.101540