The Leddy Library has launched a new resource designed to help researchers find suitable open access journals to publish their research in. The Open Access Journal Finder consolidates information from the library’s 12 license agreements (and counting) that offer campus authors complete waivers, or partial discounts, on article processing charges.

With the tool, researchers can easily navigate data on journal titles and can search by subject, title, publisher, and discount amount. The tool gives campus authors relevant information about these journals to help them make informed decisions on where to publish their research.

In addition to information on journals covered by these agreements with commercial publishers, the tool also includes a dedicated section for community-led, free-to-publish open access journals, also known as diamond open access.

“Community-led open access journals are an important part of the journal publishing ecosystem, fostering a more equitable dissemination of knowledge,” says Pascal Calarco, scholarly communications librarian.

Working in collaboration with colleagues at Western University Libraries, co-op student Miyang Settia Roh and librarian Roger Reka developed the tool in response to feedback from participants at a library workshop in the fall.

“After hosting a publishing workshop in the fall semester, we heard from researchers who were excited about these new license agreements but were facing difficultly trying to track down specifics for each journal,” said Reka. “We hope that this tool can be help researchers take advantage of these new benefits.”

Roh, a student from Western University who joined the Leddy Library in January as part of her Master of Library and Information Science program requirements, was able to organize licensed open access journal data into a comprehensive spreadsheet and used MS Power Bi to craft the Open Access Journal Finder Dashboard tailored for university students and faculty members.

“Throughout this endeavor, I cultivated an understanding of open access license agreements and also gained valuable insights into creating user-friendly tools that enhance accessibility to scholarly resources as well as a skill set in data visualization,” said Roh.

The tool will be continuously updated as the library signs on to new agreements with open access publishing rights.

The library also provides consultation and support to researchers with sharing their works openly. For assistance, contact Calarco or email scholarship@uwindsor.ca.