Scholar-led Journals at the University of Melbourne

As an editor of an open access journal, it is important to consider not only what you publish, but how you publish. Examples of best practices in open access publishing include:

• having clear and transparent editorial, peer review, and open access policies;
• using open licenses and allowing authors to retain copyright;
• adopting an ISSN and registering DOIs for journal content;
• seeking listing and indexing in discovery services;
• following robust archiving and preservation practices.

The Directory of Open Access (DOAJ) provides helpful best practice guidelines for scholarly publishing. These cover everything from what to include on your website, to guidance around publication ethics and editorial policies. The DIAMAS Diamond OA Criteria for Journals also articulates six fundamentals that scholar-led open access journals should follow.

Contact the Scholarly Communications team for guidance in understanding and applying these principles to your journal.

Best practice for open access publishing involves using open licences, such as Creative Commons licences. These allow authors to determine how readers can use, reuse, adapt, and share their work. Authors usually retain the copyright of their work without restriction.

A robust author agreement clarifies the rights retained by authors and the journal’s rights in publishing and sharing the work. Also called a publishing contract, it establishes who holds copyright and how the article will be licensed.

The University’s Copyright Office provides further advice on:

• understanding publishing agreements,
• choosing an open licence, and
• how to protect your work.

Contact the Copyright Office or Scholarly Communications team for support.

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers. They provide a long-lasting reference to where the material is located online.

Registering DOIs for your journal’s contents means that articles can be cited and shared more easily. They also allow citations and alternative metrics to be tracked more accurately.

The Library’s Scholarly Communications team can register DOIs for journals published by (or with) the University. Using our Crossref membership, the team can reserve and register DOIs for articles and other items using metadata provided by editors.

To be eligible for this DOI support, a journal must:

• be published or co-published by the University of Melbourne through a formal arrangement, with this relationship clearly stated on the journal’s website;
• have individual landing pages for all items requiring DOIs;
• provide full article-level metadata to enable DOI registration;
• commit to updating the Scholarly Communications team should URLs change.

DOIs can also be registered by some publishing and hosting platforms, including Melbourne Figshare and Open Journal Systems (OJS).

Listing and indexing your journal in relevant databases can boost discoverability and impact. It will also help your journal be recognised as a reliable and high-quality publication.

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is an independent, not-for-profit index of over 21,000 open access journals. See the DOAJ Guide to applying for details on how to apply for inclusion in the Directory.

Informit is a leading database of journals and other scholarly outputs. It focuses on the humanities and social sciences, and indexes content from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the broader Asia-Pacific region. See the Informit Knowledge Base for details on how to express interest in an open access arrangement.

Scopus is a leading multi-disciplinary database for finding relevant and reliable research. Journals that have been published regularly for more than two years can qualify for consideration. Visit the Scopus website to learn how they select journals for indexing.

The Scholarly Communications team can provide guidance in understanding these platforms and their requirements.