Journals
The checklist is a tool that will help you discover what you need to know when assessing
whether or not a publisher is suitable for your research.
How can you be sure the journal you are considering is the right journal for your research?

Are you submitting your research to a trusted journal?
Is it the right journal for your work?
More research is being published worldwide.
New publishers are launched each week.
Many researchers have concerns about predatory publishing.
It can be challenging to find up-to-date guidance when choosing where to publish.

Reference this list for your chosen
journal to check if it is trusted.
Do you or your colleagues know the journal?
Have you read any articles in the journal before?
Is it easy to discover the latest papers in the journal?
Name of the journal: the name is unique; it is not the same or easily confused withanother journal.
Can you cross check with information about the journal in the ISSN portal?

Can you easily identify and contact the publisher?
Is the publisher name clearly displayed on the journal website?
Can you contact the publisher by telephone, email, and post?

Is the journal clear about the type of peer review it uses?
Does the website mention whether the process involves independent/external
reviewers, how many reviewers per paper?
Is the publisher offering a review by an expert editorial board or by researchers inyour subject area?
The journal doesn’t guarantee acceptance or a very short peer review time.

Are articles indexed and/or archived in dedicated services?
Will your work be indexed/archived in an easily discoverable database?
Does the publisher ensure long term archiving and preservation of digitalpublications?
Does the publisher use permanent digital identifiers?

Is it clear what fees will be charged?
Does the journal site explain what these fees are for and when they will be charged?
Does the publisher explain on their website how they are financially supported?
Do they mention the currency and amount of any fees?
Does the publisher website explain whether or not waivers are available?

Are guidelines provided for authors on the publisher website?
For open access journals, does the publisher have a clear license policy? Are there
preferred licenses? Are there exceptions permitted depending on the needs of theauthor? Are license details included on all publications?
Does the publisher allow you to retain copyright of your work? Can you share yourwork via, for example, an institutional repository, and under what terms?
Does the publisher have a clear policy regarding potential conflicts of interest forauthors, editors and reviewers?
Can you tell what formats your paper will be available in? (e.g. HTML, XML, PDF)
Does the journal provide any information about metrics of usage or citations?

Is the publisher a member of a recognized industry initiative?
Are they a current member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) andfollow its guidelines?
If the journal is open access, is it listed in the Directory of Open Access
Journals (DOAJ)?
If the publisher offers an open access option, is it a current member of the Open
Access Scholarly Publishers’ Association (OASPA)?
Is the journal hosted on one of INASP’s Journals Online platforms (for journals
published in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Central America and Mongolia) or on
African Journals Online (AJOL, for African journals)?
If the journal is open access, is it hosted on Scielo (for Latin American scientificjournals)?
If the journal is open access, is it indexed in Latindex (for journals that are publishedin Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal)?

If the journal is open access, is it indexed by Redalyc (for journals that are publishedin Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal)?
Is the publisher a member of another trade association?

If you have been able to check most or all of the items on the list.
Complete the checklist and submit your manuscript only if you can answer ‘yes’ to most or
all of the questions above.

This checklist for journals is the current English language version and may be subsequentlyamended. Translations of this checklist have been made by volunteers, and this may leadto differences. This version was last updated in March 2023 with further amendments inJune 2023.

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