The number of open access (OA) books published online has increased significantly in recent years. A collaborative project between Curtin University in Perth and Springer Nature Publishing has produced a study, More Readers in More Places: The Benefits of Open Access for Scholarly Books, on usage patterns (via downloads, citations and presence on the internet) of these books compared with closed access books. A sample of 281 OA books was compared with a sample of 3,653 books published by Springer Nature behind a paywall.
The results show a greater geographical diversity of use, a higher number of downloads and more citations for OA books across all educational strata.
Most importantly, according to the study's authors, OA books have increased access and use for traditionally underserved populations.
Read the study here: https://insights.uksg.org/article/10.1629/uksg.558/