Quality Criteria for Open Access Publishers

  • The publishing house is well-established.
  • There is an affiliation with a professional association.
  • It is listed in relevant databases.
  • Persistent identifiers, such as the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) and Digital Object Identifier (DOI), are used.
  • There are transparent policies in place for the long-term archiving of publications and research data.
  • The editors and editorial board members are renowned.
  • Peer review processes are common and reputable.
  • Clear guidelines regarding publication costs, submission criteria, the author’s withdrawal of a publication, and the republication of the same or a revised version of an article.
  • Use the Think. Check. Submit. tool

  • Listing of the publisher’s journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): http://doaj.org/
  • The publisher’s membership in the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA): http://oaspa.org/
  • Mitgliedschaft des Verlags im Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): http://publicationethics.org/
  • The publisher’s membership in the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM): http://www.stm-assoc.org/

  • Self-calculated or fabricated impact factors
  • Incorrect listing of inclusion in many databases, some of which may be irrelevant
  • Spam emails and mass invitations to publish
  • An entry on “Beall’s List” by academic librarian Jeffrey Beall: “Beall’s List of Potential, Possible, or Probable Predatory Scholarly Open-Access Publishers.” Unfortunately, the original list has been discontinued. The University Library uses archived versions of the list as a guiding warning sign: https://beallslist.weebly.com/
  • Typos, such as misspelled magazine titles
  • Most or a large number of the publisher’s magazines have the same launch date
  • There are no articles, or very few articles
  • The editors’ contact information is incorrect
  • The publisher’s address is a P.O. box

Who can help me if I’m not sure??

The Open Access team is happy to assist you with quality assurance:

Referat Open Access

Tonka Stoyanova / Dr. Katrin Seyler / Dr. Rainer Plappert / Tamara Kirn / Melanie Kampa

Alte Universitätsbibliothek

Be sure to use the checklists from the Think Check Submit campaign: https://thinkchecksubmit.org/journals