Is there really a demand for a new journal? Will you find enough readers ... and authors?
When planning an OA journal a lot of things must be considered – as in the case of a print journal. Running a journal entails a lot of editorial work, so it is vital to think critically beforehand about whether such a project really makes sense and whether the effort is justified. It might be a good idea to think about working on or cooperating with an existing journal instead. (For lists of OA journals, see the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and, for details of journals which feature OA full text-articles, consult, for example, the Electronic Journals Library (EZB) at Regensburg University Library.)
Some of the questions you should ask yourself are:
- What is the journal's unique selling point going to be with respect to the intended subject area, the existing journal market, potential authors and potential readers?
- Should the journal be national or international, discipline-specific or inter-disciplinary in scope? Why?
- Will it be possible to sustain the journal in the long term and at a high level of quality? If so, how?
The brochure Guide to Business Planning for Launching a New Open Access Journal, Edition 2 (PDF, 217 KB) produced by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and published by the Open Society Institute (OSI) provides useful suggestions on this topic and on how to choose and implement a suitable business plan. The brochure is addressed mainly to an academic clientele interested in setting up an OA journal. It is the second of a series of three complementary guides for planners, developers and potential publishers of OA journals. The third brochure, entitled A Model Business Plan (PDF, 176 KB), is a step-by-step guide to developing a business plan for an OA journal and a useful supplement to the second guide.
