DOAJ

What DOAJ does

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) is a community-driven, non-profit foundation (DOAJ Fonden) registered in Denmark, founded in 2003 to serve as the definitive global index of peer-reviewed open access journals. The organization curates a free-to-use directory of 23,169 journals and 13.2 million article records across 141 countries and 92 languages, of which 14,373 journals operate with no author fees. Publishers apply for indexing and are vetted against transparent quality and best-practice criteria by a distributed team of managing editors, editors, associate editors, and volunteers; accepted journals receive visibility, credibility, and reference by funder mandates such as Plan S. The platform is operated by a small core team of 11-50 staff augmented by a global Ambassador Programme spanning China, India, MENA, Southern Africa, Latin America, and Korea.

DOAJ's technology stack is built around open standards and open data: a public REST API, OAI-PMH metadata harvesting, OpenURL resolver, embeddable widgets, downloadable Journal CSV, full public data dumps, and historical datasets hosted on Zenodo with DOIs. All journal-level and article-level metadata is released under CC0, while website content is published under CC BY-SA 4.0 and the open source codebase is on GitHub under Apache 2.0. Supporting features include the DOAJ Seal for journals meeting best practices, the JASPER preservation service, and product integrations with Zenodo, Zotero, and the Open Climate Campaign tagging initiative.

The business model is overwhelmingly donation-funded: 73% of support comes from academic organisations and libraries and 27% from publishers and other contributors, with no requirement to donate in order to be indexed. A Premium Mode metadata service for publishers and institutions constitutes a paid tier, but specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. Revenue figures are not published. The customer base is horizontal: end users (researchers, students, general public) consume the directory free of charge; publishers seek indexing for visibility and credibility; libraries and aggregators integrate DOAJ via API and OAI-PMH; funders and policymakers reference DOAJ for open access compliance. The organization is committed to the Principles of Open Scholarly Infrastructure (POSI) and remains independent, with no parent company or acquisition history.

Name

DOAJ

Legal name

DOAJ Fonden

Website

https://doaj.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) is a Denmark-based non-profit foundation that curates a free, community-vetted global index of 23,169 peer-reviewed open access journals and 13+ million article records, serving researchers, publishers, libraries, and funders worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scholarly Publishing Infrastructure

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

OER Repositories, Discovery & Metadata Services (EDAGAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Content Syndication, Distribution & Rights Management Platforms (BPAMAJAN), OER Licensing, Rights & Open Policy Support (Creative Commons) (EDAGAJAO)

Keywords

• Open access journals
• Scholarly publishing
• Academic journal index
• Open science infrastructure
• Journal metadata services

Headquarters

HQ city

Vedbæk

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Supporter Contributions: DOAJ is independent and operates entirely on donations. Support comes from academic organisations (73%) and other contributors/publishers (27%). Publishers do not need to donate to be listed in DOAJ.
2. Premium Mode Metadata Services: DOAJ offers a Premium Mode service providing enhanced metadata services for publishers and institutions, likely as a paid tier.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

DOAJ operates a free, community-driven online directory that curates and indexes peer-reviewed open access journals and their article records from around the world. It provides a public search interface, a REST API, OAI-PMH feeds, CSV data dumps, widgets, and OpenURL resolver for library integration. DOAJ also offers a paid Premium Mode tier that delivers enhanced metadata services for publishers and institutions. All core journal and article metadata is made openly available under a CC0 public domain waiver.

Product overview

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) is a community-driven, not-for-profit index of peer-reviewed open access journals. The core offering consists of the DOAJ Journal & Article Search platform combined with the DOAJ API, providing access to over 23,169 journals and 13+ million article records across 141 countries and 92 languages. Data products include Journal CSV downloads, Public Data Dumps, OAI-PMH feeds, and OpenURL resolver services for library system integration. DOAJ Premium provides enhanced metadata services for institutional supporters. Supporting services include the Ambassador Programme for regional outreach, DOAJ Blog for community engagement, Journal Application Services for indexing new journals, and Preservation Services through the JASPER project. The DOAJ Seal is awarded to journals meeting best practices standards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DOAJ Journal & Article Search

Quantifiable outcome

• 23,169 peer-reviewed open access journals indexed from 141 countries in 92 languages
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and flagship.

• ZenodocoreTechnology or IntegrationDOAJ shares all historical CSV data files from 2003 to 2025 on Zenodo, a general-purpose research repository operated by CERN. Each dataset receives a DOI, enabling citation and traceability. This aligns with DOAJ's commitment to POSI (Principles of Open Scholarly Infrastructure) and promotes transparency and open data practices.
• ZoterosupportingTechnology or IntegrationDOAJ maintains a Zotero group library cataloguing research that uses DOAJ data, helping the community discover existing studies and track how the DOAJ database is being used for scholarly communication research.
• Creative CommonsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative Commons, SPARC, and EIFL partnered on the Open Climate Campaign (2022–2024), funded by Arcadia Fund. DOAJ now sustains the Campaign's legacy by automatically tagging open climate articles in its index, creating a subject collection of over 7,000 articles. Creative Commons continues to facilitate opening climate research via its Open Science programme.
• SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPARC partnered with Creative Commons and EIFL on the Open Climate Campaign to advocate for open sharing of climate science research. DOAJ is sustaining the tagging legacy of this campaign.
• EIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerEIFL partnered on the Open Climate Campaign. EIFL's Open Access Programme Manager Iryna Kuchma has spoken publicly about the importance of open climate research and DOAJ's role in surfacing it.
• DIAMAS (DIAmond Open Access Publishing in European Universities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOAJ collaborates with DIAMAS, a project supporting the development of institutional publishing, to promote Diamond Open Access. DOAJ's focus on Diamond OA and journal visibility was showcased at the 3rd Global Summit on Diamond Open Access in Bengaluru.
• ALMASIsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOAJ collaborates with ALMASI (an EU-funded project) to advance open access publishing practices and support community-led journals.
• Open Journals CollectivesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOAJ collaborates with the Open Journals Collective to promote equitable and sustainable scholarly publishing, supporting Diamond open access journals globally.
• INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerINASP has supported journals (such as Colombo Business Journal) through the Journals Online project, helping with visibility and credibility. DOAJ is recognised by INASP-supported journals as an important index for quality validation.
• SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSciELO SA (hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa) is a key player in open access publishing in Africa. SciELO Brazil is the original SciELO project. DOAJ works alongside SciELO in the open access ecosystem, and SciELO sponsorship has previously supported DOAJ's Latin America work.
• AJOL (African Journals Online)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAJOL assists African journals in transitioning from print to online, working alongside DOAJ to improve visibility and quality of African open access journals.
• COAR (Confederation of Open Access Repositories)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOAR is a global alliance of repository communities. DOAJ is referenced within the COAR ecosystem, and DOAJ ambassadors (including Vrushali Dandawate) have participated in COAR events such as the COAR Open Access Asia meeting with UNESCO.
• Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerASSAf conducted the African Open Science Platform landscape study with CODATA direction. ASSAf's Open Access work and SciELO SA hosting are closely aligned with DOAJ's mission in Africa. 196 African journals are listed in DOAJ.
• SPARC AfricasupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSPARC Africa is a SPARC chapter focused on capacitating Africans in academic and research sectors for free access to scientific knowledge. DOAJ participates in the broader open access advocacy ecosystem alongside SPARC Africa.
• IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerIFLA is actively involved in supporting the dissemination of climate research and promoting open access. IFLA Policy and Advocacy Manager Claire McGuire has highlighted DOAJ's open climate tagging initiative as beneficial for making climate research impactful.
• IS4OA (Infrastructure for Open Access)coreOthersIS4OA is the original responsible entity for DOAJ. DOAJ Fonden is now the registered legal entity. The DOAJ website was previously run by IS4OA and DOAJ has transitioned to DOAJ Fonden as stated in the December 2025 Terms update. The Accessibility statement is run by DOAJ on behalf of DOAJ Fonden.
• OA Journals ToolkitsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDOAJ is a founding partner of the OA Journals Toolkit, an online resource providing answers to frequently asked questions about open access journal publishing.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sherpa Romeo: Sherpa Romeo provides an open database of publisher open-access policies and journal-level self-archiving permissions, serving the same researcher and library discovery audiences as DOAJ with complementary, journal-level policy metadata.
• OpenAlex: OpenAlex is an open, fully downloadable index of scholarly works, authors, venues and institutions — the closest open-data peer to DOAJ, serving overlapping audiences of researchers, librarians and tool-builders via comparable APIs and bulk-data access.

Broad incumbents

• Scopus: Scopus (Elsevier) is the dominant commercial abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed journals, used by the same research and institutional library audiences as DOAJ, with overlapping journal-coverage goals but a paid, analytics-heavy model.
• OpenAIRE: OpenAIRE operates the EU-funded open scholarly infrastructure for monitoring open access and research outputs across Europe, with overlapping metadata aggregation, harvesting (OAI-PMH) and policy-compliance goals to DOAJ.
• ISSN International Centre: The ISSN International Centre assigns and maintains ISSNs for serial publications and provides a global directory of serials, serving as foundational identification infrastructure that DOAJ relies on for journal-level metadata.
• Web of Science: Web of Science (Clarivate) is a long-established, subscription-based multidisciplinary index of peer-reviewed journals and citation data, serving the same research-evaluation and library-discovery audiences as DOAJ but with curated commercial workflows.

Emerging players

• Lens.org: Lens.org is an open scholarly metadata platform combining patents and scholarly works, with overlapping free, API-accessible journal and article metadata and an emphasis on open data analogous to DOAJ.
• Semantic Scholar: Semantic Scholar (Allen Institute) is an AI-driven scholarly search and discovery engine covering peer-reviewed journals, with overlapping user base of researchers and a growing free metadata/graph offering that competes for the discovery layer DOAJ supports.

Regional players

• SciELO: SciELO is a regional open-access journal indexing and publishing platform primarily serving Latin America (and increasingly Africa), with overlapping journal vetting, metadata and discovery workflows and an explicit partnership history with DOAJ.
• African Journals Online (AJOL): AJOL hosts and indexes African peer-reviewed scholarly journals and supports their transition to online and open access, with overlapping mission and partnership history with DOAJ in the African open-access ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DOAJplus
• GitHubgithub.com/DOAJ
• Facebookfacebook.com/DirectoryofOpenAccessJournals
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/doaj
• Instagraminstagram.com/doajplus

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DOAJ