The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a trusted index for open access scholarship. A listing improves discoverability, author confidence, and eligibility for downstream databases. DOAJ reviewers evaluate governance, transparency, and technical implementation—not whether your latest issue is groundbreaking.
What DOAJ actually evaluates
Think in four buckets:
- Best practice — editorial independence, contact details, website quality
- Editorial standards — peer review policy, ethics, author guidelines
- Content — aims & scope, minimum published volume, article completeness
- Technical standards — open access implementation, metadata, persistent access
1. Open access policy (mandatory)
- ✓Dedicated Open Access Policy page with its own URL
- ✓States content is free to read with no embargo and no registration paywall
- ✓References BOAI or an equivalent international OA definition
- ✗Delayed OA (“free after 12 months”) — not eligible
- ✗Policy only in a PDF download with no HTML page
2. Creative Commons licensing (mandatory)
Every article landing page and PDF must show the license. This is the top rejection reason for OJS journals.
| License | DOAJ listing | DOAJ Seal |
|---|---|---|
| CC BY | Yes | Yes |
| CC BY-SA | Yes | Yes |
| CC BY-NC | Yes | No |
| CC BY-ND | No | No |
| Custom / “all rights reserved” | No | No |
3. Editorial transparency
- ✓Editorial board: full names, affiliations, countries, roles; ORCID or university pages help verification
- ✓Aims & scope: specific subject area and article types—not “all fields of science”
- ✓Author guidelines: formatting, references, submission URL, review timeline
- ✓Peer review policy (standalone page): model (double-blind, etc.), minimum reviewers, criteria, typical duration
- ✓Ethics policy: plagiarism, authorship, COI, corrections/retractions; reference COPE where possible
- ✓Contact: direct editorial email visible—not only a web form
4. Technical requirements (OJS journals)
- ✓Online ISSN registered and displayed in the journal header
- ✓Article HTML metadata: title, authors, affiliations, abstract, keywords, dates on each galley page
- ✓No login walls: PDFs and HTML full text open in incognito mode
- !DOIs: optional for basic listing; required for DOAJ Seal—test every DOI resolves
- !Preservation: PKP PN plugin supports Seal requirements for many OJS 3.x journals
- ✓At least one complete published issue before applying
Before applying, run our OJS 3.4 production checklist to confirm your platform is reviewer-ready.
Six common rejection reasons
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| License only on policy page | Show CC on each article HTML + PDF |
| Board without affiliations | Add institution and country per member |
| “Peer reviewed” with no process | Publish standalone review policy |
| Mixed open / closed articles | Open all galleys or explain exceptions |
| No published issue yet | Publish volume 1 issue 1 first |
| No direct email | Add editor@journal email in footer |
Final audit (60-minute test)
Ask a colleague outside your team to find, in incognito mode within one minute each:
- Open access policy
- CC license on a specific article
- Full editorial board with affiliations
- Peer review policy
- Author guidelines
- Editor contact email
Then submit at doaj.org. Allow 3–6 months for review.
Need help preparing for DOAJ?
Galleys.pub configures OJS policies, themes, metadata, and licensing so your journal passes technical review the first time.
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