Assessing the Openness of Scholarly Publications on Sustainable Development Goal "Quality Education" in India: A Data Carpentry Analysis

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations (UN) serve as a global framework for peace, encompassing 17 goals, including SDG-4, which focuses on Quality Education. India, as a UN member, has prioritized these goals. SDG-4 ensures inclusive access to quality education, aligning with India's efforts to enhance its education system. Despite numerous studies on SDGs, there is a gap in understanding the openness of publications related to these goals, particularly in the Indian context. This study addresses this gap by examining the openness of SDG-4-related scholarly publications in India. Using Scopus data from 2015 to 2022, this study collected scholarly publications related to SDG-4. OpenRefine, OpenAlex, and Unpaywall were utilized to assess open access (OA) status, licenses, repository presence, publication locations, and self-archiving efforts. The study analyzed 1,147 publications to determine their accessibility and licensing status. Among the examined publications, 25.89% were in mixed OA routes. Gold OA emerged as the dominant open-access route, with significant contributions in 2020 and 2022. The study observed similar open-access trends in both Unpaywall and OpenAlex databases. Approximately 33.3% of the publications were in OA format. CC-BY licenses were predominant, ensuring legal and ethical use of scholarly content. A considerable portion of Green OA publications were accessible in institutional repositories, reflecting proactive self-archiving by authors and institutions. Open-access publications, especially Gold OA, were dispersed across multiple locations, enhancing their accessibility. Authors actively engaged in self-archiving, with institutional repositories playing a pivotal role.

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goal, Quality Education, Openness, Open Access Publication, Unpaywall, OpenAlex, OpenRefine, Data Carpentry