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.

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. DOAJ currently chairs the TCS Committee.

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.

Code of conduct and zero tolerance policy

At DOAJ, we foster a welcoming and inclusive community for everyone. Our code of conduct and zero tolerance policy help us create an environment where you feel comfortable and valued.

What this policy covers

Our policy applies to all kinds of communication within our community or the spaces we create. They cover interactions among our team, volunteers, ambassadors, and individuals involved in events, activities and projects initiated or organised by us. This includes:

  • Communication via email or social media
  • Participation in webinars and events organised by us
  • Communication with our team members, volunteers and ambassadors at other events

Who this policy includes

We welcome everyone, no matter your gender identity, sexual orientation, abilities, neurodiversity, appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religion (or lack of it), social identity, or any other protected characteristic. Our community is wonderfully diverse and filled with passionate individuals who care deeply about their work. While our collaboration can sometimes spark lively discussions, we ask everyone to treat one another with consideration, kindness and respect.

Code of conduct

We encourage members of our community who engage with or for DOAJ to:

  1. Be kind and patient. We want all members of our community to engage and be heard. We are a diverse community with many languages and many needs. Remember that people may use translation services or screen readers. They may be communicating in a second language.
  2. Be respectful and open. Our community is open scholarship, open research, open access, and open science. We encourage you to have open discussions. No matter the content, we ask you to communicate in a professional manner, be open to hearing others' points of view, and exchange information, experiences and knowledge openly.
  3. Create a positive environment. We want you to feel comfortable when engaging with us and our community. Learning and exploring different aspects of open scholarship should be fun! We encourage you to interact positively and share laughs, but avoid making demeaning or exclusionary jokes.
  4. Speak up! We encourage and support you in addressing unwelcome behaviour as long as you feel comfortable doing so. Otherwise, follow our process below to report issues.

Zero tolerance

We have zero tolerance for:

  • Rude, disrespectful and offensive behaviour, including derogatory remarks or anything that amounts to verbal or emotional abuse
  • Sexually inappropriate comments or behaviour
  • Racist and discriminatory abuse
  • Threats of physical violence
  • Aggressive and violent behaviour
  • Doxxing (publishing private information about any of members of the DOAJ team, ambassadors or volunteers)
  • Stalking

Or any other inappropriate behaviours that breach our code of conduct.

Reporting and resolving issues

Reporting issues

If you have concerns about someone’s behaviour, please contact the Operations Manager, Lene ([email protected]). Lene will:

  • refer the incident to our Executive Team (who will decide on further action)
  • follow up with all those involved and provide you with an update

Resolving issues

In cases where our zero tolerance policy has not been breached, we will try to resolve the conflict, for example, through a mediated conversation involving a third party or separate conversations with everyone involved. Our aim is to solve issues respectfully and to improve relationships and collaborations.

We also encourage you to let us know about incidents that were successfully resolved without our involvement. This helps us ensure we have the correct policies in place.

Breaches to our zero tolerance policy

We expect you to treat members of our team, volunteers and ambassadors with kindness and respect for the work they are doing. If someone breaches our zero tolerance policy, we may take action such as:

  • Stopping all communication with you, including emails or any appeals and complaints
  • Excluding a publisher or journal from the DOAJ
  • Banning an individual from future DOAJ events
  • Blocking or reporting an individual or a profile on social media
  • Removing an individual from an event or preventing them from attending future events
  • Reporting incidents involving our team, volunteers or ambassadors at external events or withdrawing from an event
  • Making a statement on our blog