[IRTalk] FW: [NSEF] Getting your journal ready for 2017? Suggested guidelines & pointers

[Ina Smith]

Fyi

From: NSEF [mailto:nsef-bounces at lists.assaf.org.za] On Behalf Of Ina Smith
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 1:12 PM
To: NSEF LISTS <nsef at lists.assaf.org.za>
Subject: [NSEF] Getting your journal ready for 2017? Suggested guidelines & pointers

Dear Editors

ASSAf would like to continue to work with journals from all over, to make sure these journals emanating from the African continent remain trustworthy. We therefore would like to share some recommendations and pointers from our side, and you are welcome to also contribute anything which we can learn from.

Guidelines to manage your journal in line with best practice


1.    First of all, we recommend using the correct platform for hosting and managing online open access journals. See Slides<http://www.slideshare.net/inaviljoensmith/using-ojs-to-manage-publish-your-online-open-access-journal> or Webinar Recording<http://webinar.assaf.org.za/playback/presentation/0.9.0/playback.html?meetingId=6dbf3478f9c3c5835656001018684d9c56e8e331-1478864153105&t=28m42s> on Open Journal Systems open source software, as an example.

2.    We recommend certain criteria the journal needs to adhere to. See Slides<http://www.slideshare.net/inaviljoensmith/general-criteria-for-high-quality-open-access-journals> or Webinar Recording<http://webinar.assaf.org.za/playback/presentation/0.9.0/playback.html?meetingId=64bc87cc9da0731f5d8fc426bf700e593aeddd92-1479448454255>.

3.    We encourage you to monitor the usage and impact of your journal. See Slides<http://www.slideshare.net/inaviljoensmith/monitoring-evaluating-the-usage-of-your-open-access-journal> or Webinar Recording<http://webinar.assaf.org.za/playback/presentation/0.9.0/playback.html?meetingId=e5efdb5b9565636370083399f699ca887a662219-1480054808008>.

4.    And we recommend high quality open access journals to apply for inclusion in the Directory of Open Access Journals<https://doaj.org/> (DOAJ). See Slides<http://www.slideshare.net/inaviljoensmith/introduction-to-the-directory-of-open-access-journals> or Webinar Recording<http://webinar.assaf.org.za/playback/presentation/0.9.0/playback.html?meetingId=0769c5fb45576d76aaa0841a336acad834ae6e33-1470982694434>.

Avoid being regarded as a questionable journal


1.    All information on the journal web page should always be up to date.

2.    Do not interrupt publication of issues/volumes, and publish on time. A balance should be maintained. Often questionable journals publish large quantities of articles, which is not realistic.

3.    Grammar/language use on the journal web page should be correct. The smallest typo can cause doubt.

4.    Transparency very important. Be clear in terms of page fees, and do not confuse prospective authors. Indicate the average number of pages an article should consist of, and what the article processing fees/page fees are.

5.    You can add information about the journal impact, but that should not be used to "sell" the journal.

6.    All research articles should be peer-reviewed by experts in the field.

7.    Email, affiliations and country should be clearly indicated for all. Also for the authors.

8.    All hyperlinks (linked data) should be active, and resolve correctly.

9.    Appearance throughout the journal should be consistent.

10.  Each journal is unique, and should therefore have unique policies, adapted for the journal.

11.  Clearly indicate the copyright owner/s, and who owns the publishing rights of individual articles.

12.  Clearly indicate which usage license applies to each article.

13.  The editorial board should be compiled from seasoned researchers active in their fields of expertise.

14.  Guard against the same authors submitting articles on a regular basis, as well as editors authoring articles within the journal all the time.

15.  Revisit policies and make sure these are up to date and are still relevant.

16.  The look and feel of the journal web page should be clean, easy to navigate, and not crowded. Graphics should be of good quality, and in general the page should have a professional feel to it.

There are many other criteria, but please contact us anytime if in doubt. Also visit our A-Z Scholarly Publishing wiki<http://academyofsciencesa.wikispaces.com/>, which is regularly updated with new information.

Kind regards
Ina (on behalf of ASSAf SPU Colleagues)


Ina Smith
Planning Manager, Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
DOAJ Ambassador, Southern Africa Region
LIASA Librarian of the Year 2016

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