First Directions for Using Gamification to Motivate for Open Access

Most scientists are aware that, in addition to the traditional and subscription-based publication model, there is also the possibility of publishing their research in open access. Various surveys show that scientists are in favour of this new model. Nevertheless, the transition to open access has been very slow so far. In order to accelerate this process, we are looking for new opportunities to create incentives for researchers to deal with the topic of open access. In a field study with 28 participants the effects of the game design elements badge and progress bar on the motivation when working on an online quiz on the topic of open access are examined. In our study both game design elements provide a statistically significant increase in the number of questions answered compared to a control group. This suggests that gamification is useful to motivate for open access.