Improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in DOAJ: a data analysis

In 2013, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) expanded and updated its inclusion criteria and its journal evaluation process, ultimately removing a large number of journals that failed to submit an updated application. The present study examined the results of the new process and its capability...

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Main Authors: Andrea Marchitelli, Paola Galimberti, Andrea Bollini, Dominic Mitchell
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Firenze University Press 2017-01-01
Series:JLIS.it
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.devarea.it/v2/index.php/jlis/article/view/151
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author Andrea Marchitelli
Paola Galimberti
Andrea Bollini
Dominic Mitchell
author_facet Andrea Marchitelli
Paola Galimberti
Andrea Bollini
Dominic Mitchell
author_sort Andrea Marchitelli
collection DOAJ
description In 2013, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) expanded and updated its inclusion criteria and its journal evaluation process, ultimately removing a large number of journals that failed to submit an updated application. The present study examined the results of the new process and its capability to improve the quality of the directory and the reliability of the information contained in it. A dataset of 12.595 journals included in DOAJ, since its launch in 2003 until May 15th 2016, was examined and compared to other data. The number of journals deleted from DOAJ during this period is 3776; the majority of them (2851 journals) were excluded because publishers failed to complete the reapplication on time; 490 had ceased publication or were otherwise inactive; 375 were excluded for ethical issues; 53 because they were no longer open access or the content was embargoed, the final 7 were removed for other reasons. The top five countries in terms of the percentage of journals removed are: Japan (74% of journals removed); Pakistan (60%); Canada (51%); United States (50%); and Mexico (49%). Our study has shown that 158 of the removed journals are included in Beall’s lists; 1130 journals indexed in DOAJ are included in Scopus and/or JCR. Our analysis demonstrates that, thanks to the new acceptance criteria, to the improved screening process performed by national groups under the direction of the new management, there is a noticeable quality improvement of the journals indexed in DOAJ.
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spelling doaj.art-5cdcd57dfb40446d8c1ef31e98c99e352022-12-22T02:53:13ZengFirenze University PressJLIS.it2038-10262017-01-0181Improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in DOAJ: a data analysisAndrea MarchitelliPaola GalimbertiAndrea BolliniDominic Mitchell In 2013, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) expanded and updated its inclusion criteria and its journal evaluation process, ultimately removing a large number of journals that failed to submit an updated application. The present study examined the results of the new process and its capability to improve the quality of the directory and the reliability of the information contained in it. A dataset of 12.595 journals included in DOAJ, since its launch in 2003 until May 15th 2016, was examined and compared to other data. The number of journals deleted from DOAJ during this period is 3776; the majority of them (2851 journals) were excluded because publishers failed to complete the reapplication on time; 490 had ceased publication or were otherwise inactive; 375 were excluded for ethical issues; 53 because they were no longer open access or the content was embargoed, the final 7 were removed for other reasons. The top five countries in terms of the percentage of journals removed are: Japan (74% of journals removed); Pakistan (60%); Canada (51%); United States (50%); and Mexico (49%). Our study has shown that 158 of the removed journals are included in Beall’s lists; 1130 journals indexed in DOAJ are included in Scopus and/or JCR. Our analysis demonstrates that, thanks to the new acceptance criteria, to the improved screening process performed by national groups under the direction of the new management, there is a noticeable quality improvement of the journals indexed in DOAJ. https://ojs.devarea.it/v2/index.php/jlis/article/view/151DOAJEditorial qualityE-publishingOpen access
spellingShingle Andrea Marchitelli
Paola Galimberti
Andrea Bollini
Dominic Mitchell
Improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in DOAJ: a data analysis
JLIS.it
DOAJ
Editorial quality
E-publishing
Open access
title Improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in DOAJ: a data analysis
title_full Improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in DOAJ: a data analysis
title_fullStr Improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in DOAJ: a data analysis
title_full_unstemmed Improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in DOAJ: a data analysis
title_short Improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in DOAJ: a data analysis
title_sort improvement of editorial quality of journals indexed in doaj a data analysis
topic DOAJ
Editorial quality
E-publishing
Open access
url https://ojs.devarea.it/v2/index.php/jlis/article/view/151
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