How to choose the right publisher

Before you publish in an unfamiliar journal, you should assess the quality of the journal. Consider the following:

• Who have been published in the journal in the past?
• Are the articles in the journal of high scientific quality?
• Who are on the editorial board?
• Are there any information about the journals peer review process?
• Does the journals' contact information look reliable?
• Are the conditions in the publishing agreement reasonable?
• Is the journal listed in Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)?
• Is the publisher member of Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)?

As an employee at the University of Gothenburg, you can read more about publishing strategies and advice for finding and reviewing publishing channels in the Staff Portal.

There are questionable publishers, sometimes called predatory publishers, who exploit the open access journals' payment model. They charge authors for publishing but don't perform any peer review of articles.

Questionable journals are not indexed in the database Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the publishers are not members of Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).

Contact us if you need advice on assessing open access journals.