What is Openjournals?
Openjournals is a Dutch platform and support team for publishing scientific, peer-reviewed Diamond Open Access journals. The platform currently hosts almost 40 journals in both English and Dutch, established by researchers. Openjournals creates websites and trains editorial teams in their use. Within the platform, editorial teams can manage the submission process, conduct peer reviews, and publish articles themselves. Additionally, they assist journals with archiving and making published work discoverable. They also provide support for fundraising and promoting the journal.
Why should you use Openjournals?
Openjournals is a platform based on open-source software that allows editorial teams to manage the entire editorial process of articles themselves, without the interference of a (commercial) publisher. This makes it an interesting option for teams looking to establish a new journal or transition an existing journal to Diamond Open Access. Transitioning involves severing ties with a commercial publisher (where authors are typically asked to pay an Open Access fee per article) and adopting a model that allows free reading and publishing for everyone. Journals are asked to pay an annual hosting fee of €2,400, which enables them to use the platform to publish an unlimited number of articles.
Openjournals assists journals in meeting the requirements of Open Science. For instance, it helps journals get indexed in the quality database Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and assign open licenses (CC BY 4.0) to their articles. This support aids journals in making the transition to equitable and open publishing.
Readers and authors can also use Openjournals; it helps them explore available Diamond Open Access journals across various fields. Jan Willem Wijnen, Project Manager of Openjournals: “There is now a wide range of journals available on the Openjournals platform, with new ones being added almost every month, all managed by the researchers themselves. And we can assist with various practical matters related to publishing a journal.”
Why an Innovation Fund?
Since 2023, the VU Open Access Innovation Fund supports journals, publishers, and infrastructure that are that are committed to ‘Diamond Open Access’, allowing researchers to publish without having to pay. This is a fairer and more open alternative to journals from large commercial publishers that charge high fees for Open Access. However, choosing ‘Diamond Open Access’ is not yet evident for all researchers: the journals and platforms are often smaller, making them harder to find, and there are often questions about the quality, susutainability, and prestige of publishing ‘Diamond Open Access’. The VU Open Access Innovation Fund was established to show researchers that there are high-quality, equitable, Diamond publication alternatives available that allow them to contribute to more inclusive (open) science.
