Estimating an Open Access journal´s quality
There are high and low quality journals. This is true for both conventional journals as well as Open Access journals. In some disciplines, OA journals sport Impact Factors as high or even higher than the highest-ranking conventional journals. However, a market in which many researchers are prepared to pay for the free accessibility of their papers necessarily also attracts players that want to cash in on publication fees without providing the promised value, e.g. peer review. This is considered a «predatory journal» or a «predatory publisher». Authors who unwittingly publish a hard-worked-on paper in a low quality Open Access journal are in a double disadvantage: They paid money without getting an adequate service, and instead of potentially gaining reputation, a loss in reputation may occur.
Below, you will find some advice on how to estimate an Open Access journal´s quality.
«Think - Check - Submit»
The "Think. Check. Submit." Initiative has compiled a brief overview on criteria that should be checked before submitting an article to a journal. In particular, there is advice dedicated to Open Access publishing.
Evaluating a journal with white lists and black lists
The most widely known white list is the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). If a journal is listed here, it fulfils fundamental basic criteria. Since some journals give misleading information, you should look up a journal directly in the DOAJ. Please note that it usually takes some time for new journals to be added to the DOAJ - if younger journals are not listed here, it should not be a reason of exclusion.
The black list "Beall´s List" has always been controversial due to missing transparency and harsh judgement. It is not curated anymore and frozen in the status of 2017. However, finding a publisher or a journal on this list should prompt you to check it more closely.
Indexing in citation databases
Another useful criteria is to check if a journal is listed in relevant citation indexes. On the one hand, these databases include a quality evaluation, on the other hand, articles indexed here are easy to find. What was mentioned above also applies here: Some journals my make false statements, and it takes a while until newly-founded journals are included into these databases.
Some large scholarly citation indexes:
Web of Science
- Master Journal List (freely accessible)
- Information on the selection criteria, the most important indexes and their relation to Journal Impact Factor (freely accessible)
- Access to Web of Science and the Journal Citation Reports for Goethe-University members
- all titles indexed, and the respective metrics (freely accessible)
- Information on the selection criteria (freely accessible)
- PubMed (freely accessible)
Further Information
Please find further information and background on these pages:
- «Die räuberische Zeitschrift....» - blog post by University of Leipzig (Stand November 2017)
- «Nicht nur schwarz und weiß: Die Qualität von Open-Access-Zeitschriften bewerten» - blog post by TIB Hannover (Stand Oktober 2017)
- «Predatory Publishers»: Overview by University of Saskatchewan
Feel free to contact the Open Access team.
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