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Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Vol. 37, No. 3, May-June, 2005, pp. 198 Web-Wise Directory of open access journals Singh J IJP, JIPMER, Pondicherry Code Number: ph05053 www.doaj.org [Figure - 1] The Open Access movement has given rise to a flood of freely accessible online journals. This and the increased hosting of specific electronic repositories and collections of various classes of knowledge banks provide a valuable add-on to existing published scientific information. Unlike traditional print journals, textbooks and established databases, there has been no attempt to categorise Open Access journals. Libraries and individuals therefore find it difficult to incorporate these newer resources as effective supplements to existing printed ones. At the First Nordic Conference on Scholarly Communication in Lund, Copenhagen held in 2002 the need for creating a comprehensive formal listing of Open Access Journals was felt. It was rightly presumed that such an initiative would be a valuable service for the global research and education community. The Directory of Open Access Journals (http://www.doaj.org) thus came into being. The Directory is funded by the Open Society Institute - Budapest and supported by SPARC (The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). The website consists of a small number of pages but links to more than 1500 journals, about one fourth of these are searchable and are further linked to full free text. Scientific and other scholarly Open Access journals are available in both, an alphabetical and a subject-wise listing. The subject listing is expandable and reveals the journal title, the ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), the publisher and the language in which the journal is published. Full text articles from listed journals are searchable through a trouble-free interface with simple Boolean operators. The entire updated lists of records of the library are available in a downloadable form for offline access. The criteria for inclusion of a journal in the directory are explained on a separate page. The minimum standards stress on the inclusion of those publications that do not levy any charge on their users or institutions; publish full-text research papers and exercise quality control in the form of editorial and/or peer review. The Directory is a successful attempt at providing a well-timed service in order to access quality controlled Open Access Journals. It has a wide reach in terms of the subject areas and "increases the visibility and ease of use" of these journals, most of which are not associated with large publishing houses and thus cannot afford to advertise. The initiative will undoubtedly promote their usage and impact. The dynamic nature of the service ensures that it will continue to grow as new journals are identified. The Directory will be of benefit to the researchers, scientists, and libraries looking for Open Access publications. Copyright 2005 - Indian Journal of Pharmacology The following images related to this document are available:Photo images[ph05053f1.jpg] |
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