In recognition of Open Access Week, a global event that occurs in October each year, I wanted to write about the Directory of Open Access Journals, which is celebrating its 10th year this year.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is an online directory that provides access to peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly articles published from open access journals. The DOAJ defines "open access" using the Budapest Open Access Initiative's (BOAI) definition, as resources that are made freely available to individuals or institutions for use, which includes reading, downloading, printing, copying, and distributing. The aim of the DOAJ is to increase the visibility and use of open access articles, thereby promoting their impact and usage.
The editorial control review process maintains the high quality standard of articles that are included in the directory. As of this posting, there are 9919 journals, over 1 million articles, and 122 countries. The directory can be searched by keywords and publication year, and can be browsed by journal title, subject area, and country of publication.
The influence of open access on society is enormous. It has the potential to remove barriers to accessing information, and contribute to the development of research, benefiting users, researchers, and society at large.
