Should you wish to publish your work open access, this page will assist you in finding and selecting open access journals and publication venues. When you publish open access, you may do so by one of several avenues: by publishing in a pre-existing open access journal, by starting your own open access journal, or by paying fees to make your article open access. See below for more details.

To find an open access journal, you can begin by searching in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

The DOAJ lists journals that users can "read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to" in full text. Listed journals must "exercise peer-review with an editor and an editorial board or editorial review (particularly in the Humanities) carried out by at least two editors."

Open access does not equate to low quality. Many open access journals are peer-reviewed and managed by well-respected editorial teams.

However, when selecting an open access journal, you should beware of questionable publishers. In general, signs of a disreputable journal may include:

• Editorial board lacks expertise in the journal's subject area
• Publisher demonstrates lack of transparency in its business operations
• Journal levies unannounced fees for publication
• Publisher has a poorly maintained website, which may include plagiarized or unlicensed guidelines or content 

Signs of a reputable journal may include:

• Journal subscribes to a statement of ethics such as the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) Code of Conduct
• Journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals, which uses quality control criteria to select listings

Open access journals are not necessarily low-impact publications--some are, some aren't. Particularly as they become more well-established, open access journals do impact academia, as evidenced by engagement with their content. See the following studies for more information: