Updated DOAJ guide to applying

DOAJ has now published version 1.3 of our Guide to Applying.
Guide to applying – DOAJ
Key updates:

  • We are now checking for endogeny in either of the latest 2 issues and it cannot exceed 25%.
  • If a journal lists reviewers on the website their affiliations must be included.
  • To ensure a fair review process, at least 2 independent reviewers must assess each paper.
  • Fees for withdrawing an article cannot be more than the author charges.
  • Fee waivers must be clearly mentioned, together with any conditions imposed.
  • It is not acceptable for a journal to display logos, links, images or text referring to non-standard metrics or journal ranking services.
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Can you explain more on this endogeny as it apply to indexing a journal with DOAJ

Yes, I would also appreciate to hear what kind of change this represents. What had the criterion been before? Thanks!

Hi, welcome to the PLACE!

Endogeny refers to the publishing of articles by editors or members of the editorial or advisory board. DOAJ checks the latest 2 issues of a journal and will reject an application if the number of papers written by members of the editorial team is higher than 25%.

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Hi Jeff,
This is quite a new criterion for DOAJ. When we introduced this check the threshold was 20% in the last 2 issues in total - we have adjusted this slightly to 25% in either of the last 2 issues.

Excellent! Thanks so much, @judith !

I find something appalling about DOAJ indexing a journal. We submit an open access Journal for indexing with DOAJ and to my surprise one of the reason DOAJ state that they would not index the journal is for non-standard IF services (You can see the comment below).

  1. We approach DOAJ for indexing NOT impact factor, so what is their business with another platform services or are they own by Clavariate the owner of web of science that believe only IF service rendered by them is the only standard one? I felt DOAJ monopolism is making them becoming a bully with such act.

  2. The two platform cited in the mail that we received only index the journal and not for impact factor

  3. I see that the DOAJ evaluation communication is just a one-way which seriously show biased towards those of us in the sub-Sahara Africa. There is no room for one to answer any question or address any objective raised during the evaluation, the next you get is do not re-apply until the next 6 months or 3 years thereabout.

Dear Olu Joshua,

The application which you submitted for LAUTECH Journal of Civil and Environmental Studies on 17/Jan/2023 has been rejected as the journal does not meet our basic criteria

Reason for rejection

The journal displays non-standard IF services (International Scientific Indexing, CiteFactor)

DOAJ does not approve of Impact Factors or ranking systems. However we acknowledge that some journals desire to promote their Impact Factor and so we allow this. But there are many services offering other “Impact Factor” services and we believe that these should not be used as they can cause confusion among users.

We certainly are not biased against journals from sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, it is a key aim for DOAJ to include many more journals from the region in order to give them more global visibility.

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Can you provide more clarification or details on the following point “To ensure a fair review process, at least 2 independent reviewers must assess each paper”.

  • By Paper, do you mean every type of paper that is submitted, even Letters and Commentaries?
  • Would a review done by one of the Editors as one of the min. 2 reviews count in situations where perhaps otherwise a 2nd reviewer cannot be found?

Hi @llbremer, many thanks for your questions.

Not all types of papers need to be peer-reviewed. But research content must be peer-reviewed, and it must be clear which papers are reviewed, and which are not.

In exceptional cases, it would be ok for one of the editors to perform one of the reviews, but please make your best efforts to find a second reviewer outside of the board first.

Thank you for your follow-up!