The Copyright Crash Course (CCC) was created with faculty in mind, but can be used by anyone who is interested in understanding and managing copyrights.

Assessing OA Publishers

It is important for scholars to determine the quality and reputation of the journals to which they submit their work for publication. Just as with subscription journals, there are unscrupulous OA publishers who spam scholars via email with tempting offers to submit journal articles and/or serve on editorial boards.

OA publishing has undergone rapid growth in recent years, and in many cases OA publishers may be unfamiliar to scholars. OA journals should be judged by exactly the same criteria as any traditional publication, with a few additional considerations.

Journal Criteria

When evaluating a journal, consider the following:

• The caliber of the research published.
• Reading and assessing the quality of a few articles.
• The peer review process, as described on the journal's website.
• Contacting published authors to discuss their experience.
• The composition of the editorial board and staff.
• Whether editors are recognized experts and if their affiliations are provided.
• Ease of locating contact information for the publisher, including a street address and phone number. Be aware that some fake publishers will provide a private address to attract contributors.
• The quality metrics for the journal (impact factors, article-level metrics, etc.).
• The journal's policy for publication charges, including amounts to be charged.
• Copyright ownership for published content. True OA means the author retains their copyright via a Creative Commons or comparable license.

Appraisal by the Industry

There are many organizations that vet individual journals and publishers, which may help authors assess legitimacy. While exclusion from any of these services does not necessarily mean that a publisher is not reputable, authors may consider:

• Is the journal indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus  or other literature indexes in your field?
• Is the journal or publisher a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)?
• Does the journal have an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)?
• Does the journal have an ISI impact factor, SNIP , SJR, or eigenfactor ranking? Beware of unrecognized ranking systems, often designed to mimic existing metrics. See a compiled list of Misleading Metrics.

Appraisal if Open Access

• Is the journal included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) or the Directory of OA Scholarly Resources (ROAD)?
• Is the publisher a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) ?
• Has the publication been evaluated by scholars in the Quality Open Access Market?
• Is the publisher or journal included on Beall's list of OA publishers with questionable business and peer review practices? (use the search box to find investigations into specific publishers or journal titles)