The Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) have announced the forthcoming launch of the Open Access (OA) Journals Toolkit, scheduled for launch in the second half of 2023. Research Consulting is supporting them in managing the Toolkit development process as well as in liaising with an expert Editorial Board.
The OA Journals Toolkit is being built as a community-led initiative funded by OASPA and DOAJ, aiming to support new and established OA journals in navigating the rapidly changing landscape of OA publishing. The Toolkit will be a free-to-access website that provides useful articles and further reading materials on topics across the journal development lifecycle, from journal creation and funding, staffing, and policy development, through to indexing and key technical aspects.
OASPA and DOAJ have been increasingly aware of the need for a resource of this kind and assessed the content requirements and likely usage in different regions of the world through a consultation with OA experts, journal managers, and editors. Research Consulting carried out consultation interviews and workshops for OASPA and DOAJ in 2022. Engagement with these communities confirmed that a resource focusing on Open Access journals would be a valuable addition to the current publishing landscape, and this put the exciting Toolkit development process in motion.
An expert Editorial Board has been assembled to bring the Toolkit to life. Their role is to contribute content to the Toolkit, by writing up pages according to their expertise and experience, and to help ensure that the resource is truly global in nature, inclusive and relevant for all. Necessary efforts have been taken to ensure that this group represents a range of territories, languages, organizations and publisher sizes.
Over the coming weeks, the Editorial Board will be hard at work, drafting content that will eventually form the Toolkit pages. The Board will meet regularly to peer review each other’s content and to share relevant resources, ensuring that the Toolkit remains up-to-date and relevant for users. They will also be helping with valuable advice and feedback on the design of the website, to ensure that content is easy to discover and browse.
All these efforts are leading up to the Toolkit’s official launch in the second half of 2023. The Toolkit will be launched in English and French, before translation into other United Nations languages in the following months. It is hoped that this will contribute to ensuring that the Toolkit is an inclusive and accessible resource.
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