Vetting Open Access Journals
Before publishing in an Open Access Journal you should consider the following criteria:
- Is the journal is indexed in an established and reputable database such as Web of Knowledge, Scopus or Academic Search Complete? A complete list of databases provided by the library is available here.
- Is the journal listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)?
- Examine the journal's website for such information as affiliation with a university or professional organization, editorial board credentials, or acceptance rates. If you have doubts, contact members of the editorial board or article authors.
- Are publishing fees and copyright ownership clearly indicated?
- Is the publisher or editor a member of a reputable industry organization such as Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association or the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)?
Ethics in Open Access
The advent of open access publishing has resulted in the removal of printing barriers. Now assembly and dissemination of information requires little more than Internet access. Unfortunately, this has led to a proliferation of open access publishers with little or no subject expertise and of questionable repute. Scholars and researchers may receive email solicitations for fee-based paper submissions to journals that make false or misleading claims about the stringency of their peer-review process, members of their editorial board or indexing status.
- The Committee on Publication Ethics is "a forum for editors and publishers of peer reviewed journals to discuss all aspects of publication ethics."
- The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association is a forum for open access publishers. Membership is vetted and can be an indication of publisher quality.
Predatory Publishers
Predatory publishing is a publishing business model in which authors are charged a publication fees and not provided the editorial and publishing services associated with legitimate journals.
- Beall's List of Predatory PublishersJeffrey Beall, scholarly communications librarian at the University of Colorado at Denver, created this list in 2008. The list has grown to include thousands of journals alleged to exploit open-access publishing.
Unfortunately, the page has been wiped. Lacey E. Earle, vice president of business development for Cabell’s International, said on Twitter that Beall “was forced to shut down [the] blog due to threats and politics.” A spokesperson for the company said the information came from Beall, but that it was all he told them. Beall has made no comment directly. Cabell’s, which offers services that help librarians, researchers and others discover scholarly journals, has since 2015 worked with Beall on developing a journal blacklist. That list is slated to launch in the spring of 2017.
This link now points to the Jan. 15 2017 archived version of the page in Internet Archive. - Beyond Beall’s List Better understanding predatory publishersby Monica Berger and Jill Cirasella for College & Research Libraries News an ACRL publications
- Predatory Publishing Isn’t The Problem, It’s a Symptom of Information InequalityDigital Science BLOG by Phill Jones