Research Collection – annual review and statistics for 2020

Our review of the usage figures for the Research Collection last year reveals some pleasing numbers: there were over 800,000 downloads of journal articles. This represents a 43% increase on the previous year and the highest number ever achieved on the platform. This is certainly not least due to the fact that the number of articles available for free via the Research Collection is growing constantly. The proportion of open-access articles in 2020 is currently at 43%; this is 7% more than was available during the last annual review for 2019. However, the proportion of open-access content had also increased in previous years.

Key topics in 2020

Astonishingly, the COVID-19 pandemic – the dominant topic of the previous year – did not feature as a subject among the most frequently downloaded publications. The highest altmetric score was achieved by an article on the influence of increased affluence on sustainability: “Scientists’ warning on affluence”. The most frequently downloaded article, “Dissection of Bitcoin’s multiscale bubble history from January 2012 to February 2018”, focuses on the topic of cryptocurrencies. In terms of data sets and dissertations, the preceding year’s winners featured once more: “A consensus estimate for the ice thickness distribution of all glaciers on Earth” and “Eine neue Bestimmung der Moleküldimensionen” (“A new determination of molecule dimensions”).

A balanced country ranking

Overall, the country ranking according to downloads is a little more balanced than in the previous year, and Germany was able to pip the USA to the top score. Great Britain has disappeared from the top five, this position instead being occupied by Russia.

For a clear overview, please see the infographic for 2020.

The Research Collection is the publication platform of ETH Zurich. University members can use it to publish academic full texts on an open-access basis, as well as to archive research data or to make these available to the public.