Publication Patterns and Perceptions of Open Science in Indian Scholarly Community: Insights from a Survey

In April and May of 2020, a survey was carried out to gather opinions and experiences related to open science publications and preprints. The majority of respondents were from India and specialized in agricultural science. The survey revealed that the "Journal's Impact Factor" was the most significant factor when selecting a suitable journal for publication. Most respondents who had published articles in Open Access had paid Article Processing Charges (APCs) for their publications, and the funding for such charges came from various sources, such as project funds, institutional support, and personal funds. While respondents expressed confidence in preprints and preferred institutional repositories as their preprint platform, the main drivers for sharing preprints were increased indexing, citation, and visibility, and the inclusion of preprints in assessments. Despite this, most respondents stated that they had never cited preprints, nor had their preprints been cited. This highlights the need for increased advocacy for Open Science and Preprints in India.