Open Access Publishing: Open Access Journals

Discover Open Access Journals

There are a number of resources to assist with evaluating Open Access journals and publishers. These range from checklists to help with assessing a publication outlet, to directories of journals that meet set criteria for inclusion, and to associations of publishers employing OA principals in their publication practices. 

Evaluation Tools

• Think. Check. Submit.

  Use this check list to assess a journal or publisher when deciding on an OA Journal to publish with.

• HowOpenIsIt?

  The HowOpenIsIt? Open Access Guide consolidates the key elements of journal policies into a single, easy-to-follow resource to help you evaluate the a journal's level of "open."

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a directory of scholarly Open Access Journals. DOAJ's mission is to increase the visibility, accessibility, reputation, usage and impact of quality, peer-reviewed, open access scholarly research journals globally, regardless of discipline, geography or language. Journals included in the directory must exercise peer-review. 

Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)

The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association is an organization created to provide a forum for bringing together the community of Open Access journal publishers. Their mission is to encourage and enable open access as the predominant model of communication for scholarly outputs.

Members are required to adhere to a code of conduct, so this membership list may be used to vet ethical conduct of OA publishers.

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) works to educate and advance knowledge in methods of safeguarding the integrity of the scholarly record. Members of COPE follow the highest standards of publication ethics and apply COPE principles of publication ethics, as outlined in the Core Practices, in their publication process.