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Apply to DOAJ: a walkthrough

5 min readUpdated 17 July 2026Credibility & indexing

The Directory of Open Access Journals is the reference list of trustworthy open access journals. Inclusion is free, libraries and funders check it, and several larger indexes treat it as a baseline signal. This walkthrough covers meeting the criteria and completing the application using Scholardemia’s compliance tooling.

What DOAJ looks for

  • All research content free to read immediately on publication, no embargo.
  • A clear open licence stated on the journal site — most diamond OA journals choose CC BY.
  • An editorial board of named people with verifiable, relevant affiliations.
  • A public peer-review policy that the journal actually follows.
  • An ISSN, registered and matching the journal title exactly.
  • Honest presentation: no invented metrics, no misleading indexing claims.
The APC question has a platform-authoritative answer. DOAJ asks journals to declare author charges. For APCs, Scholardemia provides this answer: Scholardemia journals do not charge article processing charges (APCs). Do not infer answers for submission, page, reader, or other charge fields from that APC-only rule; verify them from separate journal authority before applying.

Before you apply

DOAJ reviews a working journal, not a plan. Publish a genuine run of peer-reviewed research articles first — recent criteria have expected at least five, and a fuller record makes a stronger application (check DOAJ’s current criteria when you apply). Then make sure your seeded site pages — Editorial Board, Peer Review, and Journal Statements — describe your journal’s real people and real policies, not the starter text.

Complete the compliance fields

  1. Open the compliance desk

    In your workspace, go to Compliance and find the DOAJ panel for your journal.

  2. Fill the DOAJ fields

    • Journal URL — your public journal site.
    • Open access statement URL — usually your Journal Statements page.
    • Licence name and licence URL, matching what the site displays.
    • ISSN or e-ISSN, exactly as assigned.

  3. Resolve validation messages

    The panel validates as you go and lists anything missing or malformed — clear every message before applying, since DOAJ reviewers check the same facts by hand.

  4. Apply at doaj.org

    Submit the application form on DOAJ’s site — it is free. Review commonly takes a few months; answer any editor questions promptly.

After acceptance

Once accepted, enable DOAJ article export in the same compliance panel. New articles then flow to DOAJ automatically on your configured schedule, with delivery logs kept alongside the settings — no manual re-entry per article.

Keep going

Still stuck? Talk to a person.

Our support team reads every message. Include what you were doing, any error message, and a screenshot if you have one; it usually saves a round-trip.

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