Overlay journals: A study of the current landscape

Overlay journals are characterised by their articles being published on open access repositories, often already starting in initial preprint form as a prerequisite for submission to the journal prior initiating peer-review process. In this study we aimed identify currently active overlay and examine characteristics. We utilised an explorative web search contacted key service providers additional information. The final sample consisted of 34 journals. While results show that new have been actively established within recent years, current presence remains diminutive compared overall number Most publish natural sciences, mathematics or computer commonly groups academics rather than formal organisations. They may also rank highly traditional citation metrics. None investigated required fees from authors, which is likely related cost-effective aspects publishing model. Both growth adoption repositories researchers’ willingness will determine model’s wider impact scholarly publishing.