About

About DOAJ

DOAJ is a unique and extensive index of diverse open access journals from around the world, driven by a growing community, committed to ensuring quality content is freely available online for everyone.

OPEN - DOAJ is a vital part of the global open access infrastructure.

GLOBAL – DOAJ is a global community, with team members, ambassadors and volunteers based in 45 countries around the world, speaking 36 languages.

TRUSTED – Globally, DOAJ's criteria have become a gold standard for open access publishing.

Our mission

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.

DOAJ is committed to being 100% independent and maintaining all of its primary services and metadata as free for everyone.

Our vision

DOAJ works to build an equitable and diverse scholarly ecosystem where trusted research can be accessed globally without barriers.

Constitution

DOAJ is an independent, non-profit organisation managed by Infrastructure Services for Open Access C.I.C. (IS4OA), a community interest company registered in the United Kingdom and with a branch in Denmark.

DOAJ relies entirely on the voluntary donations of its supporters. Neither DOAJ nor IS4OA receive grants or funding from any other source.

DOAJ has an Advisory Board and Council, the members of which carry out their duties voluntarily.

The work done by the DOAJ Team is supported by over 100 voluntary editorial staff who help us to review applications. All volunteers are bound by an agreement and must declare any conflicts of interest.

DOAJ also has a global network of Ambassadors who promote open access and best practice in their regions. Our Ambassadors are bound by an agreement and must declare all conflicts of interest.

Zero tolerance policy

We expect the members of our Team, our volunteers and our Ambassadors to always be treated courteously and with respect for the work they are doing. They should not be subject to abusive behaviour in any form, which includes:

  • rude, disrespectful and offensive behaviour, including derogatory remarks or anything which amounts to verbal or emotional abuse in person or in communications
  • sexually inappropriate comments or behaviour
  • racist and discriminatory abuse
  • threats of physical violence
  • aggressive and violent behaviour

Partnerships and collaborations

DOAJ partners with many organisations. The nature of the partnerships varies and may include membership, contracts for work, exchanges of information or services, initiative signatories, or access to information resources that assist DOAJ with our application review process.

Think. Check. Submit.

DOAJ is a proud founder of Think. Check. Submit. as well as a contributing organisation and long-standing committee member.

Established in 2015, Think. Check. Submit. was developed with the support of an international coalition of organisations from across scholarly communications in response to discussions about predatory publishing and amid a growing number of new and unfamiliar publishing options available for researchers.

Think. Check. Submit. provides tools and practical resources to educate researchers, promote integrity, and build trust in credible research and publications. Separate checklists for journals and books are available to guide researchers through the key criteria for selecting where to publish their research and are also invaluable to scholarly communications professionals who are advising researchers about these issues. Both checklists are also available in a growing number of languages.

Diversity

DOAJ believes in the power and value of diversity in scholarly communications. DOAJ is an adopting organisation of the C4DISC Joint Statement of Principles. Adopting the Joint Statement of Principles demonstrates our support for improving diversity and inclusion in our industry.