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DEMOGRAPHICS OF RESPONDENTS
Q1 - I use arXiv in the following ways: (Please choose all that apply)
Answer | % | Count |
I am an arXiv reader | 93% | 31862 |
I am an arXiv author | 53% | 18270 |
I am an arXiv submitter | 50% | 17189 |
I am an arXiv (other type of user): Please describe | 2% | 845 |
Q2 - The number of articles I have published/submitted on arXiv is:
Answer | % | Count |
1 article | 11.99% | 2570 |
2 articles | 8.96% | 1920 |
3 - 4 articles | 15.19% | 3254 |
5-10 articles | 23.06% | 4941 |
More than 10 articles | 40.80% | 8743 |
Total | 100% | 21428 |
Q3 - My current occupation is: (Please choose ALL that apply)
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13% of respondents (4353) indicated a different occupation category. The top ones included researchers at a company or industry (900), engineer (515), and retired individuals (478). There were also respondents who described themselves as science writers, editors, or freelance editors. Other response types included data scientist, self-described amateur researchers, self-described laypeople, unemployed, teachers, and the generally curious (e.g., “a man doing research as hobby”).
Q4 - As a user, my main subject area of interest in arXiv is: (please choose all that apply)
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Almost 2,000 respondents checked the Other option to specify their main area of interest. The top categories were astrophysics (726) and astronomy (653).
Q5 - I have been using arXiv for:
Answer | % | Count |
0 - 2 years | 19.54% | 6470 |
3 - 5 years | 28.96% | 9592 |
6- 10 years | 25.44% | 8425 |
11 or more years | 26.06% | 8632 |
Total | 100% | 33119 |
Q50 - My age is:
Answer | % | Count |
younger than 30 years | 37.42% | 12364 |
30 - 39 years | 31.27% | 10332 |
40 - 49 years | 13.76% | 4545 |
50 - 59 years | 9.30% | 3073 |
60 - 69 years | 5.77% | 1908 |
70 years and over | 2.47% | 817 |
Total | 100% | 33039 |
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Other Countries: 1% or less representation each from 113 countries
Q54 - How important is it to improve on the following CURRENT arXiv services?
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Number of responses: 26,420
Q67 - How important is it to develop the following NEW arXiv services? -
Question | Very important | Somewhat important | Not important & should not be doing this | No opinion |
Add direct links to papers in the references (support reference extraction): | 63.04% | 26.89% | 5.78% | 4.29% |
Offer citation export in formats such as BibTeX, RIS, etc.: | 57.68% | 23% | 10.95% | 8.37% |
Enable extraction for the BibTeX entry for the arXiv citation: | 55.54% | 23.82% | 9.72% | 10.91% |
Provide Citation Analysis tools (examining the frequency and pattern of a paper's citation): | 52.95% | 27.08% | 14.28% | 5.69% |
Support compliance with public/open access mandates (funding agency policies that require research results to be made public) by allowing final versions of papers to be submitted with information such as funding sources and grant numbers: | 42.06% | 26.21% | 13.68% | 18.05% |
Enable submitting an article to a journal at the same time as it is uploaded to arXiv: | 39.28% | 23.09% | 25.23% | 12.40% |
Offer a rating system so readers can recommend arXiv papers that they find valuable: | 36.28% | 21.76% | 35.56% | 6.40% |
Enable linkages (interoperability) with other repositories (e.g., run by libraries), so that a paper accepted by arXiv is accepted at the same time by the other repositories: | 35.25% | 28.14% | 17.25% | 19.36% |
Develop an annotation feature which will allow readers to comment on papers: | 34.89% | 23.62% | 34.08% | 7.41% |
Number Number of responses: 26,890
Q21 - Where do you go to find arXiv papers? Please choose all that apply:
Answer | % | Count |
Go directly to arXiv.org (arXiv homepage) | 79% | 22804 |
ADS | 14% | 4144 |
Inspire | 13% | 3773 |
Google Scholar | 35% | 10016 |
Google search engine | 50% | 14440 |
arXiv email alerts | 14% | 4086 |
Other search engines | 5% | 1402 |
Subject gateways for arXiv, such as the Math Front | 4% | 1203 |
Other (please specify): | 9% | 2662 |
Q22 - If you have used the arXiv homepage for finding papers, how easy is it to navigate?
Answer | % | Count |
Very easy | 14.85% | 3916 |
Easy | 32.05% | 8450 |
Somewhat easy | 25.20% | 6644 |
Somewhat difficult | 21.60% | 5696 |
Difficult | 5.02% | 1324 |
Very difficult | 1.27% | 336 |
Total | 100% | 26366 |
Q23 - If you have used the arXiv homepage, how do you usually navigate our main page? Please choose all that apply.
Answer | % | Count |
Go to link "new" or "recent" under a particular category | 63% | 16503 |
Use arXiv search engine and enter a specific arXiv-id, author name, or search term | 63% | 16478 |
Receive daily mailing list, and then look for a particular article on the search field | 14% | 3692 |
Other, please explain: | 3% | 853 |
How important are the following CURRENT quality control measures?
Question | Very important | Somewhat important | Not important & should not be doing this | No opinion |
arXiv checks papers for text overlap: an author's use of too much identical text from other authors' papers, without making it clear that the text is not their own material, i.e., "plagiarism": | 77.41% | 14.66% | 4.96% | 2.96% |
arXiv makes sure submissions are correctly classified (the subject categories are included on the arXiv homepage): | 64.38% | 25.32% | 7.01% | 3.29% |
arXiv keeps out (rejects) papers that don't have much scientific value: | 60.02% | 19.14% | 15.49% | 5.35% |
arXiv checks papers for too much text re-use from an author's earlier works, i.e., "self-plagiarism" (reuse of identical content from one's own published work without citing): | 57.77% | 24.64% | 14.08% | 3.51% |
arXiv checks papers for format-related problems (line numbers in text, missing references, oversize submissions, etc.) and asks authors to fix them before they are announced:. | 55% | 29.83% | 11.51% | 3.66% |
arXiv moderates the scientific content of trackback (links to blogs and commentaries) before permitting the link to be added: | 39.60% | 26.31% | 17.59% | 16.50% |
Number of responses: 26,430
Overall, how satisfied are you with arXiv?
Answer | % | Count |
Very satisfied | 52.92% | 14770 |
Satisfied | 42.43% | 11841 |
Somewhat satisfied | 3.55% | 990 |
Somewhat dissatisfied | 0.54% | 150 |
Very dissatisfied | 0.15% | 42 |
No opinion | 0.42% | 116 |
Total | 100% | 27909 |
Which of the following BEST describes your opinion of how arXiv needs to move forward?
Answer | % | Count |
arXiv should focus on its main purpose, which is to quickly make available scientific papers. This will be enough to hold up the value of arXiv in the future. | 71.94% | 19865 |
arXiv should expand its main mission, and spend more time and resources to provide new services. This is necessary to hold up the value of arXiv in the future. | 19.59% | 5410 |
No opinion | 8.47% | 2340 |
Total | 100% | 27615 |