Basic editorial information that should be displayed
Abstract
It is important that the website of a Diamond OA publisher provides clear and well-structured information for authors, readers and any other users, and that details on key elements are easy to find and understand. Diamond OA publishers should make sure that they carefully think about all relevant sections of information and ensure this is comprehensive on their website.
Main Text
The Diamond OA publisher’s website must provide a clear mission for the publication, outlining its aims and scope, and its target readership. Diamond OA publishers should indicate the frequency of issues, or state that the journal is published on a continuous basis. Publication dates quoted must be the actual dates that the publication became available online.
Diamond OA publishers and journals should state explicitly that no mandatory fees are charged to authors. Some journals may choose to suggest a Voluntary Author Contribution (VAC) whereby authors with access to institutional funding for open access publishing are given the opportunity to support the journal. It must be clear that there is no obligation to do so. For an example see the journal Glossa Psycholinguistics’ policy on VACs, or that of the Open Library of Humanities.
Author guidelines must be available giving details of the submission process, including the languages in which manuscripts can be submitted, article types accepted, and any formatting requirements, stylesheets, or templates to be used.
Diamond OA publishers and journals must provide information about the evaluation procedure undertaken by the journal, including the expected timeframe for the process, who is involved at what stage of the process, how decisions are made and by whom. All submitted articles should undergo a rigorous evaluation process that adheres to best practices in scholarly publishing, and any specific practices followed in the relevant discipline. Evaluation may take place before or after publication, depending on the review model adopted by the Diamond OA publisher or journal.
The Diamond OA publisher's and journal’s website should include a range of editorial policies that are easy to find and clearly describe aspects such as authorship and contributorship, how complaints and appeals regarding allegations of research misconduct will be handled and what the policy is for conflicts of interest. Following industry-standard practices is recommended, such as those provided by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).
Diamond OA publishers and journals should also feature policies on their website that address issues such as: text and data mining; whether or not authors can make the content available via open repositories and sharing services; and the archiving and presentation policy for published content. Diamond OA publishers and journals should clearly describe how any publishing infrastructure is maintained, backed up and protected from viruses and malware, as well as providing user instructions and documentation for editorial staff.
Tips:
- Information should be written clearly and be jargon free
- Details of all policies and procedures should be fully described and transparent
- Information should be easy to find by including it in relevant menus and cross linking between sections
- Getting external help reviewing a website can be useful and help identify areas where transparency could be improved
Related toolsuite articles
Related guidelines
Related training materials
References
- COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, WAME. (2022).Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. https://publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/principles-transparency-best-practice-scholarly-publishing.pdf
- Committee on Publication Ethics. COPE Core Practices. https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
Further reading
- Open Access Journals Toolkit. https://www.oajournals-toolkit.org
- Directory of Open Access Journals. DOAJ Guide to Applying. https://doaj.org/apply/guide/
- Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association. OASPA Membership Criteria. https://www.oaspa.org/apply/membership-criteria/
- JASPER Preservation Service. https://doaj.org/preservation/
Licensing
This article is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License