Openjournals provides a professional OpenAccess publishing platform for scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.

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  • February 27, 2025

    Highlights OpenJournals 2024

    In this post, we would like to list the main developments of Openjournals in 2024. Things are going well for Openjournals: more journals are back on the platform, technical upgrades have been made, and important organizational steps have been taken.

    Journals on Openjournals

    The Openjournals platform is growing, and 6 new journals were added in 2024, bringing the total to 37 journals. The new journals are:

    Upgrade OJS to version 3.4

    Over the summer, after an extensive testing period, a major upgrade was installed to the OJS software, the software used to host journals on the platform. The 3.4 update includes new features and enhancements that streamline the editorial process, improve the user experience and increase overall efficiency for journal administrators and managers. Editors were informed of the new features and the upgrade went smoothly.

    Evaluation journal websites

    This year, we conducted a project where the text and layout of all journal websites were thoroughly evaluated, and improvements and clarifications were made in consultation with editors. Outdated or incorrect information was corrected and sometimes the layout of the information was changed. As a result, the websites are now clearer and contain the information that should be on them according to DOAJ guidelines. This should make it easier to be included in indexing services such as DOAJ.

    Enriched Publishing

    Three so-called enriched articles were published in collaboration with BMGN – Low Countries Historical Review .These articles contain multimedia elements that describe additional information of the research. We are exploring how we can simplify this type of enriched publishing for editors and thus make it accessible to multiple editors.

    Hosting costs

    Openjournals is funded by a grant from NWO and is further sponsored by some universities. In addition, to balance the budget, hosting costs are charged to participating journals. In 2024, we were able to substantially reduce those hosting costs. We strive to keep those annual hosting costs as low as possible.

    Openjournals User Day 2024

    The second Openjournals User Day was held on Thursday, May 30, at the IISH in Amsterdam. In addition to journal editors, representatives of university libraries and policy makers were present. Together they discussed the challenges for Diamond Open Access journals. The views of research funders NWO, the Universities of the Netherlands and the UKB (cooperating university libraries and the KB) on diamond open access publishing were outlined in a panel discussion. There was also discussion on the challenges in finding funding for DOA journals, innovations in peer review and ways to attract readers and authors. 

    Publicity and networking

    Openjournals participated in the Open Science Festival organized in Maastricht this year. Openjournals also attended the annual PKP Sprint where users and developers of the OJS software come together to work on new functionality. Part of that PKP Sprint was a meeting of major European OJS installations to exchange experiences and explore opportunities for collaboration. In addition, Openjournals regularly joins meetings of the Dutch University Publishers, where joint projects are discussed, with the goal of developing a nationwide publishing infrastructure in the Netherlands.

    DOAJ and indexing services

    Journals published on Openjournals are expected to meet or work toward the quality criteria of the Directory of Open Access Journals By now, 18 Openjournals journals have been accepted by DOAJ. We help the remaining journals meet the requirements and handle the registration application to DOAJ. We also help journals to be indexed at Scopus or Web-of-Science. For example, the journal Humanimalia is now indexed by Scopus, following an application by Openjournals. In addition, we regularly submit journals to DOAJ when they meet the criteria.

    Memorandum-of-Understanding

    A consortium of national academic parties signed a Memorandum-of-Understanding in late November in support of the national Diamond Open Access platform Openjournals. The consortium consists of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the KNAW Humanities Cluster, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the University Libraries and National Library (UKB), and the National Library of the Netherlands (KB). These organizations believe it is important to have a national infrastructure for publishing scholarly journals, following the Diamond Open Access publishing model. Openjournals fulfills that role, and so the partners have agreed to make a joint effort to further develop and sustain the Openjournals platform. In the coming years, as a consortium, they will be responsible for the organization and funding of the Openjournals platform and they will also mutually agree on a sustainable organization and funding of the platform from 2028 onwards.

    Open Science NL

    Open Science NL is the national program that promotes and accelerates the transition to Open Science. One element is the funding of projects aimed at developing digital infrastructures that support Open Science practices. Openjournals is involved in a number of ways in project proposals submitted to the Open Science NL program. A proposal was submitted to expand Openjournals to include a national infrastructure for publishing open access books. It also collaborated on a project proposal to work with university publishers to establish a nationwide publishing infrastructure for academic books and journals.

    Prospect 2025

    We expect to welcome another number of new journals in 2025. We will continue to provide information and webinars for editors. We want to support them even better in submitting to indexing services. Furthermore, in 2025 we expect to cooperate even more with Dutch university publishers and foreign DOA platforms.

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  • January 9, 2025

    Meet the Tijdschrift voor Jeugdgezondheidszorg: innovation in youth health care!

    The Tijdschrift voor Jeugdgezondheidszorg (TJGZ) is aimed at professionals in youth health care, such as youth doctors and youth nurses. The journal keeps professionals working in this field informed about important practical experiences, research findings and related topics relevant to preventive care for children and adolescents aged 0-23. Eveliene Dera-de Bie, editor-in-chief of TJGZ, is keen to share knowledge and contribute to development within the field.

    Why cooperate with Openjournals?

    Eveliene Dera-de Bie: ‘TGJZ switched to Openjournals because the platform fits well with the journal’s open access mission. This allows us to publish our articles according to the diamond open access model. And the support and accessibility of Openjournals have added value!’

    Open Science and Open Access

    ‘Open Science and Open Access are very important to TJGZ, it ensures that research is accessible to everyone. Of course there are challenges, such as getting more visibility and continuing to improve the process.’

    Working with Openjournals

    The experience with Openjournals is described as positive. ‘The platform makes everything clear and helps us smoothly through the peer review process. Sometimes it takes some time to get used to new features, but problems are always solved quickly.’

    Future plans and challenges

    ‘We see potential in working with Openjournals to increase our visibility. Our goal? To remain an accessible, inspiring journal, where young researchers and students can also share their work. Of course we have challenges, such as keeping processes efficient, but we also see opportunities, for example in the use of AI’.

    Want to read more about the journal? Then visit the platform!

  • December 19, 2024

    Interview with the Editorial Team of A Game Changer in Publishing!

    Ecclesial Futures is an international, ecumenical and double-blind peer-reviewed open access journal. It publishes high-quality, original research and theological reflection on the development and transformation of local Christian communities and the systems that support them as they join in the mission of God in the world. Transitioning to Diamond Open Access has been transformative, enabling the journal to make its research freely available worldwide.

    Why collaborate with Openjournals?

    The editorial team shared their motivation for the switch: “We were stuck with a very traditional publisher who did not promote our printed journal in any way. Diamond Open Access was a game changer for us, moving us to the forefront of 21st-century publishing very quickly.” The collaboration with Openjournals has been especially valuable due to the innovative model: “The partnership between Openjournals and Radboud UP allows us to publish at no cost, as long as we provide editorial and peer-review services for free.”

    The Importance of Open Science and Open Access

    The team highlights the critical role of Open Access in their field: “As an international journal, it’s essential that our research is accessible to regions where subscription costs are a barrier. Open Access overcomes this entirely.”
    They also point out the benefits for inclusivity: “It ensures that research can be accessed by anyone with a computer and an internet connection, no matter their financial resources.”

    Experiences with the Openjournals platform

    The editorial team describes their experience with the Openjournals platform as positive. One feature they find particularly useful is the ease of editing website content: “This saves us a lot of back-and-forth with publishers or web developers.”

More news

Our journals

  • All journals

    Openjournals hosts a diverse set of high-quality academic journals. Check out all of them.

  • New journal

    The Tijdschrift voor Lerarenopleiders is a peer-reviewed journal by and for teacher educators from the Netherlands and Flanders, falling under the Velon and Velov associations. The journal is published four times a year and provides a platform for articles relevant to teacher educators and teacher education. There is room for different types of articles: research article, practical example, reflective article, new approach/methodology and opinion piece.

  • New journal

    Humanities & Education publishes rigorous research on humanities education, focusing on pedagogy in literature, art, culture, history, philosophy, religious studies, and linguistics. It emphasizes qualitative and mixed-method approaches, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and integrating humanities theories into education. The journal encourages studies from diverse educational contexts and includes public summaries for practitioners, bridging research and practice to enhance educational outcomes.

  • New journal

    The quarterly journal Studium (2008-2019) was published by Gewina, Belgian-Dutch Society for the History of Science and Universities / Société Belgo-Néerlandaise pour l’Histoire des Sciences et des Universités (www.gewina.nl), in collaboration with the Huygens Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Descartes Centre of Utrecht University. Studium was the direct continuation of Gewina: Tijdschrift voor de Geschiedenis der Geneeskunde, Natuurwetenschappen, Wiskunde en Techniek; Scientiarum Historia: Tijdschrift voor de Geschiedenis van de Wetenschappen en de Geneeskunde and the Nieuwsbrief Universiteitsgeschiedenis. For more on the history of the journal, see Geert Somsen and Ilja Nieuwland (2019), “New Beginnings Come to an End: Late Gewina, Studium, and the Changing Tides of the History of Science in the Low Countries, 1998-2019,” Studium, 12 (4), 226-32.

Partners

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