DOAJ’s reputation as a vital research infrastructure for open access continues to grow among research funders.
DOAJ is currently supported by several research funders who recognise the central role of DOAJ in enhancing visibility and discoverability of research worldwide and its role in the delivery of Plan S. These funders help to share some of the operational costs of DOAJ, an important acknowledgement of the critical need to secure the organization’s future independence and visibility of global open access research.
Hans de Jonge from NWO, the Dutch Research Council and member of the DOAJ Council, is convinced that open access publications have more impact on science and society. He thinks that research funders play a crucial role by requiring that the results of the research they fund are made openly available. “They do this partly through their grant conditions; NWO’s grant agreements have required since 2015 that publications resulting from NWO funding should be made available in open access. Publicly funded research is a public good, paid for by taxpayers. For this reason alone, it should be publicly accessible to all who have an interest in it.”
Research funders such as NWO consider DOAJ to be an essential infrastructure. De Jonge explains “We want to be sure that the research we fund is published in high-quality open access journals that operate according to the highest standards in scholarly communication. The standards set by DOAJ and the rigorous review process mean that research funders can indeed be assured of the quality delivered by the journals registered in DOAJ.”