The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), a comprehensive international database of more than 10,000 Open Access journals, recently implemented a rigorous new vetting process that aims to raise the bar of quality for the journals it lists and filters out publications that are tarnishing the image of Open Access.
After all the hard work that scholars put into their research, they are eager to have the papers reporting on their work widely read. Many understand that publishing their article in an Open Access journal provides them with the opportunity to reach the widest possible audience. However, lingering concerns about the quality of open access journals have kept some academics from fully embracing the innovative publishing model.
Lars Bjørnshauge, Managing Director of the DOAJ in Copenhagen and director of SPARC Europe, helped to spearhead the expanded review process, which began in March of 2014. The application that must be approved to get into the directory now includes about 50 questions rather than just seven. The questions explore aspects of the journal ranging from the transparency of the journal's editorial processes to peer review and selection criteria, to plagiarism screening mechanisms, requiring full disclosure on all of these areas before a journal is accepted for inclusion in the DOAJ database.
The DOAJ currently includes 10,000 journals, each of which has been invited to re-apply for inclusion in the directory under the new procedure. This unprecedented, comprehensive review is currently underway, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. Since the new criteria were established in March 2014, DOAJ has received 4100 applications from journals, many duplicates. 700 have been included, 1100 have been rejected and 2300 are pending or in process. During the same period (12 months) 175 journals has been removed from DOAJ.
Along with the need for more detail was a call for more transparency, adds Bjørnshauge.
However, for journals that don't initially make the new cut, all is not lost. Bjørnshauge and the DOAJ advise them on changes they can implement so that they can eventually become part of the directory.
The directory itself goes back over a decade, when Bjørnshauge volunteered to assemble a list of open-access journals following the now infamous gathering of advocates in Budapest in 2002.
A small grant from SPARC and the Open Society Foundation provided seed money to develop the service to establish the DOAJ, led by Bjørnshauge, who was Director of Libraries at Lund University in Sweden from 2001 to 2011.
Not only do these standards cover appropriate peer review practices, but they also address issues such as long-term archiving, how conflicts of interest are handled, and transparency regarding a publication's business model and advertising policies, notes Paul Peters, Chief Strategy Officer for the Open Access publisher Hindawi Publishing Corporation, and a member of the DOAJ's Advisory Board. By updating its application process to include these criteria, the DOAJ will be able to help the research community identify Open Access journals that are meeting these standards of best practice.
The DOAJ developed the new application over the course of a year, reaching out to its advisory board as well as a series of well-known international experts for feedback. A draft was circulated for public comment and the community responded with nearly 150 comments. Caroline Sutton, Co-Founder and Editorial Director of Co-Action Publishing, and past-president of OASPA, was one of the experts with whom DOAJ consulted. She agreed it was time to tighten up some of the criteria, and recognised that it also provided an opportunity to 'harmonize' the new DOAJ criteria with the criteria used by OASPA in its membership review process. OASPA in collaboration with COPE, WAME and DOAJ developed the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing http://doaj.org/bestpractice, and these organisations are now collaborating in promoting these principles.
The DOAJ since 2005 funded by the community it serves, with 110 university libraries and 15 library consortia paying an annual membership fee to support the organisations work. Many publishers are, as well, sponsoring DOAJ.
Reviewing all the existing DOAJ publications is a huge effort that has been aided by the help of many volunteers. Because many of the journals are in different languages, Bjørnshauge put out a call for help reading applications and volunteers from all around the world have donated their time in the effort. There are about 20 groups with editors reviewing the applications and a three-tiered evaluation process to guarantee a fair decision.
In time, Bjørnshauge anticipates having an established directory of certified high-quality journals will help advance the Open Access movement.
Peters, who was involved in the discussions leading to the new membership criteria, believes that providing a list of independently vetted Open Access journals will address the concern some have about how low-quality, open-access journals have negatively impacted the scholarly communications ecosystem. Further, he notes that having a stricter set of criteria for journals applying to be in the DOAJ will show open access journals can be just as rigorous and prestigious as their subscription-based counterparts.
