Open Access Scholarly Materials Guide: Open Access Journal Evaluation

Characteristics of open access journals include:

• Content is published online
• Content is freely available upon publication
• Content is often (but not always) published with an open license to facilitate broadest dissemination & reuse, i.e., Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license

In terms of business operations, there are three types of open access journals:

1. Those that do not charge a fee for publishing because they are financially self-sustaining
2. Those that charge an article processing charge (APC) to cover costs (and to make profits)
3. Subscription-based journals that offer an open access option for an APC (hybrid journals)

Authors may want to think about the following issues before submitting a manuscript to an open access journal: 

Appointment of editorial board members and reviewers Communication of journal policies Author rights and licensing issues Contact information for journal Track record of journal Marketing and indexing of journal Preservation of published content for perpetual online access

This list is by no means exhaustive. Details of these issues are addressed in this handout. 

Please note that the same criteria can also be applied to evaluate subscription-based journals. 

This lists positive signs for open access journals. It is built upon the Open Access Journal Quality Indicators from the Grand Valley State University Libraries. 

• The editor, editorial board members, and reviewers are knowledgeable researchers/scholars/practitioners in the concerned discipline(s). (not applicable to student-run journals)
• The scope of the journal is well-defined and clearly stated on the journal site.
• Published articles are within the scope of the journal and of good quality.
• The peer review process (or quality control mechanism) is clearly explained.
• Information about charges for publishing in the journal is clearly presented.
• Copyright ownership and rights for reuse are clearly stated at the article level.
• The contact information for the journal and the publisher is sufficient and can be easily located on the journal site.
• The journal has a good reputation among researchers/scholars/practitioners in the concerned discipline(s).
• Published articles are included in academic article databases and/or indexes, especially those that serve the discipline(s) the journal focuses on.
• The publisher has a policy and a mechanism to preserve the journal content for long-term access.
• The journal is affiliated with or sponsored by an established scholarly society or academic/research institution.
• Dates of submission, acceptance, and publication are available for each published article.
• The journal has an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).
• Each published article has a digital object identifier (DOI).
• The journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals.
• The publisher is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association and observe its Code of Conduct. 

Some negative signs are noted in this handout.  If you have any questions or comments on the above features, please feel free to contact your Academic Liaison.