Resources for Editors of Scholarly Journals: Open Access Journals

Open Access journals, those journals where all of the content is freely available online, ensure the widest dissemination of scholarly information.  Quality Open Access journals meet criteria such as those outlined by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) , the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

This page contains many resources for editors of Open Access journals.  Examples of Memoranda of Agreement for Open Access journals can be found on this guide's Launching a New Journal: Memoranda of Agreement page and sample Open Access publication agreements on the Publication Agreements page.   Editors of Open Access journals will find that many of the resources on the other pages of this guide are useful to editors of all scholarly journals, including those that are Open Access.

Please contact Marianne Reed (mreed@ku.edu) for assistance if you are considering starting a new Open Access journal or converting a traditional journal to Open Access. 

We suggest that you start with the following.   A more extensive list of resources for Open Access journal publishing can be found at the bottom of the page.

• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
  This document by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) outlines 16 "principles of transparency" that contribute to best practices in Open Access publishing. 

• Declaring Independence:  A Guide to Setting Your Journal Free
  This step-by-step guide developed by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) is designed to assist journals that are trying to determine if their journals would benefit from an Open Access business model:
  • Speaking from experience... A letter from Hugh Thomas, co-editor of Algebraic Combinatorics
  • Why open access and why now?
  • Determining if your journal is a good fit for open access
  • Publishing Partnership models
  • Journal revenue models
  • Next steps
     
• Open-Access Journal Publishing Resource Index
  This comprehensive Open Access publishing resource from SPARC is divided into sections by topic:
  • New Journal Planning
  • Publishing Program Policies
  • Governance Issues
  • Editorial Issues
  • Marketing & Promotion
  • Technical Platform
  • Sustainability
  • Resource List
•  Application to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
  A listing in DOAJ is one of the criteria often used to determine whether an Open Access journal is legitimate.  It is strongly recommended that applicants download and complete the spreadsheet version of the form, since the application must be filled out and submitted in one sitting.  The spreadsheet is also helpful as a record of the information submitted, as applicants do not get a confirmation that summarizes the data input to the form.

Applicants need to provide information in the following areas:  basic information about the journal, the quality and transparency of the editorial process, an analysis of how open the journal is, content licensing, and copyright and other permissions. 

If you are applying to DOAJ and need assistance, please contact Marianne Reed (mreed@ku.edu). 

• Open Access Publishing Resources
  This comprehensive page from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) pulls together many resources about Open Access publishing. 

• Open Access Journal Business Models
  This article describes 15 different business models for Open Access journals, with examples of journals that use each model.

• Flipping a Journal to Open Access
  This article by Peter Suber outlines some of the reasons why a journal might want to transition from a model that is based on subscriptions to an Open Access model and offers some information for journals about how this can be accomplished.

• Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
  The OASPA site has many resources for Open Access publishing.  Editors may find the Membership and Information Resources sections to be especially helpful.  The Information Resources section contains a long list of OASPA publishers that would be willing to assist scholarly societies in starting an Open Access journal or converting an existing journal to Open Access.

• Open-Access Publishing Advantages: A Case Study at the "Australian Journal of Teacher Education" (video)
  This video presentation describes the experiences of the Australian Journal of Teacher Education as it moved from a print/subscription model to an online Open Access model.  Not only did downloads of the journal's articles increase exponetially, but Open Access led to "more submissions, a higher quality and quantity of published articles, and a greater international impact."

• Open Access @ KU:  Publishing in Open Access Journals
  This section of the Open Access @ KU website is provided for authors trying to evaluate an open access journal, but is applicable to editors and journal advisory boards that want to know what to do to ensure that their Open Access publishing efforts will be perceived as legitimate.

• Impact and Bibliometrics
  This guide from faculty at the University of Kansas is intended for authors trying to increase the visibility and impact of their research.  However, it is useful to editors and journal advisory boards because it identifies the characteristics of those journals that attract authors that wish to increase their research impact (and the stature of the journal that publishes their articles.)