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Auditing Framework for Diamond Open Access Journals
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Authors:
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Iryna Kuchma, EIFL, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2064-3439
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Ina Smith, Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9710-3668
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Milica Ševkušić, EIFL, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2888-6611
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Introduction
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This auditing framework is designed to support systematic assessment of scholarly journals against key requirements for transparency, editorial and technical quality, accessibility and interoperability. It can be used by journals as a self-assessment tool to identify strengths and weaknesses of the journal, and areas for improvement. Or it can be used by external auditors, for example institutions wanting to assess journals they publish or support..

The framework builds upon DOAJ's Guide to applying (https://doaj.org/apply/guide), the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS) Guide for Journals (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15147823) and Quality in Diamond Open Access Publishing: guidelines, policies and templates (Version 2.0), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17404837.

The framework contains 93 criteria organized into sections covering different aspects of journal publishing (e.g. journal identification, general information, journal policies, etc.). For each criterion, a description and guidance on how to verify it are provided. The audit columns allow auditors to record the status of each criterion, to note whether relevant information is available on the journal website, including in alternative languages (if this is relevant for the journal); record observations and provide evidence supporting their assessment. Each criterion is assigned a requirement level: Mandatory or Recommended, enabling potential users to distinguish between essential requirements and additional good practices in Diamond Open Access journal publishing and to prioritize actions.

Where a journal does not meet a criterion, guidance on how to address issues and improve journal practices can be found in Quality in Diamond Open Access Publishing: guidelines, policies and templates (Version 2.0), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17404837, and Let’s Do It Right: Fixing Common Issues in Open Access Journals, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22893703.

The Dashboard provides an automatically generated overview of audit results, including overall status, results by requirement level and performance by section, as well as corrective-action follow-up.


This framework has been developed as part of the Collaboration for Sustainable Open Access Publishing in Africa project, funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant number 228148/Z/23/Z).
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How to use this framework
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1. Review each criterion. Use column filters if you want to focus only on mandatory criteria or on a particular section.
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2. Select an Audit status.
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3. Record evidence in the Evidence column.
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4. Record observations in Auditor notes, for example, if implementation diverges from published policy, or information about policies on the journal website is insufficient and you are unable to audit that criterion; or if you observe that policies and practices are inconsistent or unusual.
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5. For non-compliance with best practice, define a Corrective action, assign a Priority and Responsible person/unit, and set a Target date.
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6. Use the Dashboard sheet to review progress by requirement level and audit status.
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Additional notes
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For article-level criteria, check at least 5 articles from at least two recent issues. If the journal is published continuously (there are no volume and issues) check 5 recent articles published over at least one year.
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For special-issue criteria, check the 2 most recent special issues.
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For the diversity of authors criterion, use the most recent complete publication year.
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Some criteria apply only under specified conditions (e.g if the journal uses PIDs, has volumes and issues, or publishes special issues). These conditions are identified in the criterion description. If the stated condition does not apply to the journal, select 'Not applicable' as the audit status.
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If you are using the framework for an external audit, ignore the columns: Corrective action, Priority, Responsible person/unit, Target date
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Cite as: Kuchma, I., Smith, I., & Ševkušić, M. (2026). Auditing Framework for Diamond Open Access Journals. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22893897
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This resource is part of Good Practice in Action: A Toolkit for Diamond OA Journals (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22894228).
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This resource is licensed under a
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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