Category Archives: oa.directories

A Short Introduction to DOAJ

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The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) was founded by Lars Bjørnshauge in 2003; the current managing director is Joanna Ball. A cornerstone in the global Open Science landscape, DOAJ currently lists more than 18,000 peer-reviewed, strictly open access journals (Gold or Diamond). Dominic Mitchell, who has worked for DOAJ for the last ten years, explains how the indexing process is managed by a combination of volunteers and salaried staff like himself, how they work to exclude predatory journals from the list, and how DOAJ is financed. Furthermore, DOAJ is involved in several collaborative projects promoting high-quality scholarly publishing, including The Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (4th ed., 2022).

EU Public repository of Public Domain and openly licensed works

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“It will be essential to easily identify works which are not protected by copyright anymore (public domain works) or which can be used freely under open licences. This can be achieved by developing databases that can allow the identification and reference of Public Domain and openly licensed works. Such databases could have an added value by increasing opportunities for the re-use of public domain cultural heritage beyond the scope of Article 17, by making those works and their public domain status more readily available….

This Pilot Project would consist in a feasibility study, to confirm that there is an actual market failure and to confirm the risk of over-blocking such public domain works, as well as to determine the technical needs, including from platforms, and ensure the buy-in from stakeholders. The project would also develop a prototype database that could be used, referenced and augmented by platforms, content providers, institutions of the GLAM sector (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) or other non-forprofit organisations working with public domain or freely licensed content. Such public repositories of freely reusable works could help to unlock the societal value of these works, and thereby truly enable access to and promotion of culture, and the access to cultural heritage….”

Kick-off for EU database of public domain works and digital access to scientific works | Patrick Breyer

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With yesterday’s budget vote, the EU Parliament approved the funding of two pilot projects in the field of free knowledge initiated by the Pirate Party’s MEP Patrick Breyer in cooperation with civil society.

The first pilot project “Public EU directory of works in the public domain and under free licenses“, is funding a feasibility study for the creation of a database of public domain works. The development of such a database shall provide legal certainty for platforms, providers, galleries, libraries, archives and museums, as well as other non-profit organizations that work with public domain or freely licensed content.

The second project, “The Role of Copyright Laws in facilitation of distance education and research”  intends to strengthen schools, universities and the cultural sector. The pilot project will assess copyright obstacles for online teaching and will focus on possible adaptions to the legal framework in order to enhance an appropriate balance of the interests of the authors and the use for educational and research purposes in the public interest. In addition, public access to culture and education shall be increased, in particular by granting licenses to libraries.

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DOAJ receives funding from the French National Fund for Open Science | April 2022

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DOAJ is pleased to announce that it will be receiving €70,000 EUR in funding from the French National Fund for Open Science. The decision to allocate the funds was taken by the Steering Committee for Open Science who recognized the strategic role that DOAJ plays in promoting and vetting high-quality open access journals. 

DOAJ has opened its nominations call for 2021

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When we launched our new governance structure in 2019, we established that some seats would become vacant after a two-year term to avoid all seats on the Board and Council being vacated at the same time.

DOAJ has approached over 600 supporting organisations to put forward nominations to fill four seats on the Advisory Board and five seats on the Council. All organisations that support DOAJ are eligible to nominate.

Call for 2022 Entries: Library Publishing Directory and IFLA Library Publishing SIG Global Library Publishing Map | Library Publishing Coalition

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The Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) and the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Library Publishing Special Interest Group (LibPub SIG) have partnered to survey the landscape of publishing in libraries across the globe. LPC is seeking submissions for its 9th annual Library Publishing Directory. IFLA’s LibPub SIG has created a first-of-its-kind Map of global library publishing initiatives. Together, we invite you to share information about your library’s publishing activities.

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DOAJ Progress Report for 2018 – News Service

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“With a revised set of Principles of Transparency and Best Practice and a new mission,  DOAJ started 2018 by publishing its strategy to show the community where DOAJ is focussing its efforts: a) funding and sustainability; b) functionality, stability and scalability; c) education and outreach. 

Financially, DOAJ has seen the benefits of the SCOSS initiative, with more than 60% of all monies being donated from the public sector….

For the first time since before 2013, we do not have a backlog of applications waiting to be triaged….

The introduction of an update function allowed us to make systematic journal entry reviews more focussed and more effective. These are undertaken as each update is submitted. Further reviews are taken across our larger multi-journal accounts where, as far as possible, we have tried to establish common metadata entries across all journals belonging to the same publishing entity….”