DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17048589
title: PathOS Impact of Open Access Routes on Topic Persistence Case Study Research Data, Code, and Analysis Results

description:  

This repository contains the data, scripts, and results for the Impact of Open Access Routes on Topic Persistence case study, part of the PATHOS project.

Overview

Artificial intelligence methods are being rapidly mobilized to tackle the climate crisis, but the knowledge base often burns bright and fades quickly. This case study asks whether two distinct Open Access (OA) routes help AI-for-Climate research topics stay active in the literature:





Green OA: self-archiving in repositories




Published OA: journal-mediated open access with a clear licence



Bronze OA and dual-mode publications are excluded for treatment clarity. Closed Access (CA) articles serve as the counterfactual.

By foregrounding topic persistence as a key dimension of impact, the study goes beyond short-term citation counts and investigates whether openness helps research topics remain visible long enough to demonstrate their potential.

Repository Structure

├── README.md
├── fos_taxonomy_v0.1.2.json
├── persistent_topics_create_collection.py
├── persistent_topics_find_paper_openaireids.py
├── persistent_topics_find_paper_affiliations.py
├── persistent_topics_get_collection_author_gender.py
├── persistent_topics_calculate_indicators.py
├── persistent_topics_calculate_indicators_sdg.py
├── persistent_topics_indicators_create_data_for_vis.py
└── persistent_topics_collection_w_outcomes/
    ├── complete_collection_df.parquet / .xlsx
    ├── topic_attribution_df.parquet / .xlsx
    ├── results/
    │   ├── analysis_conclusions.txt
    │   ├── summary_statistics.xlsx
    │   ├── treatment_effects_green_oa.xlsx
    │   ├── treatment_effects_published_oa.xlsx
    │   ├── descriptive_effects_any_oa.xlsx
    │   ├── tables/
    │   │   ├── 01_executive_summary.xlsx
    │   │   ├── 02_treatment_group_characteristics.xlsx
    │   │   ├── 03_causal_effects_summary.xlsx
    │   │   ├── 04_topic_persistence_analysis.xlsx
    │   │   ├── 05_gender_equity_outcomes.xlsx
    │   │   ├── 06_economic_impact_analysis.xlsx
    │   │   ├── 07_publication_year_analysis.xlsx
    │   │   └── 08_robustness_analysis.xlsx
    │   ├── visualizations/
    │   │   ├── 01_sample_overview.png
    │   │   ├── 02_causal_effects.png
    │   │   ├── 03_outcome_analysis.png
    │   │   └── 04_temporal_and_balance.png
    │   └── final_visualization_data_figures/
    │       ├── data/
    │       └── figures/
    └── results_sdg_only/
        ├── sdg_analysis_conclusions.txt
        ├── green_matched_sdg_papers.xlsx
        ├── published_matched_sdg_papers.xlsx
        ├── closed_matched_a_sdg_papers.xlsx
        ├── closed_matched_b_sdg_papers.xlsx
        ├── tables/
        │   ├── 01_sdg_distribution_matched_samples.xlsx
        │   ├── 02_sdg_treatment_effects.xlsx
        │   ├── 03_sdg_vs_non_sdg_comparison.xlsx
        │   ├── 04_sdg_categories_by_impact.xlsx
        │   ├── 05_sdg_gender_industry_collaboration.xlsx
        │   ├── 06_sdg_analysis_summary.xlsx
        │   ├── 07_sdg_alignment_comparison_matched.xlsx
        │   └── 08_sdg_alignment_effects_summary.xlsx
        └── visualizations/
            ├── 01_sdg_distribution_overview.png
            ├── 02_sdg_treatment_effects.png
            ├── 03_sdg_impact_analysis.png
            └── 04_sdg_alignment_comparison_matched.png


Data Sources

External Data Sources (not included)





Semantic Scholar Academic Graph: full publication metadata




OpenAIRE Graph: European research infrastructure data




PATSTAT: patent database for citation analysis




ROR: Research Organization Registry




SciNoBo toolkit: FOS classification, interdisciplinarity, SDG mapping, FWCI scores



Included Data





Complete processed collection with outcomes




Topic attribution dataset (paper-topic mappings, persistence scores)




Analysis results: matched samples, treatment effects, summary statistics




SciNoBo Field of Science taxonomy (fos_taxonomy_v0.1.2.json)



Scripts

Data Processing





persistent_topics_create_collection.py – integrates multiple data sources, outcomes, affiliations, patent citations




persistent_topics_find_paper_openaireids.py – maps DOIs to OpenAIRE IDs




persistent_topics_find_paper_affiliations.py – extracts affiliations, science-industry collaboration




persistent_topics_get_collection_author_gender.py – gender classification of authors



Analysis





persistent_topics_calculate_indicators.py – main causal inference analysis (PSM for Green OA vs CA, Published OA vs CA)




persistent_topics_calculate_indicators_sdg.py – SDG-focused treatment effects




persistent_topics_indicators_create_data_for_vis.py – prepares final visualization datasets and figures



Key Findings

Sample





Total: 132,134 papers (2000–2021)




Green OA: 3,792 papers




Published OA: 19,045 papers




Closed Access: 92,998 papers



Contributions





New Topic Persistence Metric for long-term impact




Clean OA treatment definitions (excluding dual-mode and Bronze)




Separate analysis of Green vs Published OA pathways



Main Results





8 significant causal effects across outcomes




Enhanced topic persistence in OA papers




Positive gender equity outcomes




Evidence of economic impact (patents, collaborations)



SDG Findings





24,948 SDG-relevant papers (18.9% of sample)




11 significant treatment effects for SDG-related research




Stronger knowledge sustainability for achieving SDG goals



Methodology

Design





Propensity Score Matching (PSM) with balanced covariates




Separate analyses for Green OA vs CA and Published OA vs CA




Robust outcome metrics (including new persistence measure)



Treatment Definitions





Green OA: repository-based




Published OA: journal-based (gold, hybrid, diamond)




Closed Access: no open provision




Excluded: dual-mode and Bronze OA



Outcomes





Citation impact (traditional)




Topic persistence (novel metric)




Gender equity in authorship




Economic impact (patents, collaboration)




Field effects (disciplinary and SDG)