Reasons journals are not found in DOAJ

DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) is considered by many the authoritative database of scholarly open access journals. Still, many such journals are not found there. Based on rejection data from DOAJ this article tries to shed light on some of the major reasons journals have their applications rejected. Understanding why applications are rejected can inform us as to what can be done to improve the situation. The data point to lack of resources as a major problem. Many applications are from journals that do not meet the criteria or are predatory, but many are also from journals that could very well deserve a listing in DOAJ – they just are not able to complete an application with all relevant information in place.