Open Access

Which OA journals are reputable?

Evaluating OA journals for both their quality and relevance for your work can help you avoid predatory publishers!

Journals and publishers that meet important publishing guidelines and industry standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) can be found in several organizations' membership lists and/or directories:

• Membership list of the Committee for Publication Ethics (COPE)
• Journals listed in the the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• Membership list of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)

Finding Open Access Journals

There are several ways you can find open access journals:

• Searching the Directory of Open Access Journals by subject- all of these journals are open access.

• Browse journal titles in a database like Scopus and click the option on the left to "Display only open access journals"- you may need to login with your UT credentials to view Scopus. If the first link doesn't work, you can navigate to Scopus here.

• If you have a publisher in mind, like Taylor & Francis for example, you can search "Taylor & Francis open access journals." Many publishers maintain a list of their available open access journals.

We also have a list of open publishing discounts that UTK researchers can use when publishing open access articles with certain journals/publishers.

Tools for Evaluating Journals:

• ACRL Scholarly Communication Toolkit

• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing

• Think-Check-Submit checklist 

• Journal Evaluation Workflow from Karen Burton

• Journal Evaluation Tool from Loyola Marymount University

• List of Journal Evaluation Tools and Metrics

Tools for Identifying and Avoiding Predatory Journals:

• A-Z List of Common Features in eMails from Predatory Publishers

• Predatory Publishing: A to Z Elements

• Predatory Journals: What They Are and How to Avoid Them

• Ten Simple Rules for Avoiding Predatory Publishing Scams

• Retraction Watch

Other Resources

• Evaluating Open Access Journals: Moving from Provocative to Practical in Characterizing Journal Practices
  • Free Course from Gutzman & Wescott (2024)
• What to Do When a Journal Acts Unethically
  • Blog from the University of California
• The Right of Publicity
• Reputable Open Access Journal Indicators
• How To Select A Journal For Your Research
• How Open Is It? Open Access Spectrum

The following indicators can help you determine a journal's quality and avoid predatory journals.

Positive Indicators

• Scope of the journal is well-defined and clearly stated
• Journal’s primary audience is researchers/practitioners
• Editor and editorial board are recognized experts in the field
• Journal is affiliated with or sponsored by an established scholarly society or academic institution
• Articles are within the scope of the journal and meet the standards of the discipline
• Any fees or charges for publishing in the journal are easily found on the journal website and clearly explained
• Articles have Direct Object Identifiers (DOIs)
• Journal clearly indicates rights for use and re-use of content at article level (e.g., Creative Commons CC BY license)
• Journal has an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
• Publisher is a member of Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association
• Journal is registered in Ulrichsweb.com, Global Serials Directory
• Journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals
• Journal is included in subject databases and/or indexes

Negative Indicators

• Journal website is difficult to locate or identify
• Publisher “About” information is absent on the journal’s website
• Publisher direct marketing or other advertising is obtrusive
• More information for authors is not available
• Information on peer review and copyright is absent or unclear on the journal website
• Journal scope statement is absent or extremely vague
• No information is provided about the publisher, or the information provided does not clearly indicate a relationship to a mission to disseminate research content
• Repeat lead authors in same issue
• Publisher has a negative reputation (e.g., documented examples in Chronicle of Higher Education, listservs, etc.)

Attribution: These indicators have been adapted from the list created by Grand Valley State University Libraries

What about APCs?

Some publishers ask for fees, or article processing charges (APCs), to make your publication openly accessible. How do authors know when an APC is legitimate or predatory?

• If the journal makes all of their publications available open access immediately, then there are no subscription fees. In this case, APCs are the publisher's only revenue stream for the journal title, making APCs reasonable.
• If the journal makes only some of their publications OA, then the publisher receives revenue from both subscriptions to the journal and APCs.  In general, this is not considered a good practice by libraries, since we would be paying twice for the same content.

Other considerations: How committed is the publisher to Open Access?  Is OA their main publishing model, or one of several?  What do they do with their revenue?

Check "Which open access journals are reputable?" above for more information.