The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) aims to provide a comprehensive list of all Open Access scientific and scholarly journals that use a quality-control system (peer review or editorial quality control) to guarantee the content. All subject areas and languages are covered. The Directory defines Open Access journals as those that use a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access. The definition includes a requirement that users can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles. In short, DOAJ is a one-stop shop for users of Open Access journals.

The idea of creating a comprehensive directory of Open Access Journals was discussed at the First Nordic Conference on Scholarly Communication in Lund/Copenhagen. The meeting concluded that it would be a valuable service for the global research and education community. The Directory is hosted by Lund University Libraries Head Office, Lund, Sweden. The project is funded by Open Society Institute (OSI) in Budapest, and also supported by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC; see Open Access Now, 25 August 2003).

The aim of the Directory is to increase the visibility and ease of use of Open Access scientific and scholarly journals, thereby promoting their increased usage and impact. The Directory addresses the problem that many online journals and electronic archives are difficult to overview and to integrate into the library and the information services provided by libraries for their user constituency. Available technologies make it possible to collect and organize these resources in a way that allows libraries worldwide to integrate them into existing services, thus offering value both for the providers of the resources and for the global research and education community.

DOAJ believes that increased visibility leads to increased usage and that there is a practical need and vested interest for the community to support new Open Access journals.

The DOAJ service should also contribute substantially to securing a future for Open Access journals and to the push towards changes in scholarly communication.