I’ve now done several cleanup things: Checked to see whether any of the journals removed from DOAJ since 1/1/2024 had been restored by 4/12/2024, None had; those journals are all treated as excluded. Compared codes for last year’s study with those this time around. If a journal is “xm” or “xx” and was also “xm” or “xx” last year, I stop checking it. There were a lot of these–adding those to the “xj” (removed) journals yields 948 journals that I marked as excluded and won’t recheck. Perhaps worth noting that those 948 only account for 9,757 articles in 2024 (where articles could be counted thr ..read more

In all, 20,269 journals have been checked, with (so far) a total of 1,425,237 articles in 2023 and 1,453,420 in 2022.  Just barely more than two-thirds of the journals are diamond (no fee): 13,596, as compared to 6.673 with fees. The second pass will involve 3,073 journals, including most of those noted below (except bi and xd) and another 1,200 or so that seem likely to have published another 2023 issue since they were checked. Special cases bi [Inactive: no articles since 2021]: 494. xd [Dead: no articles since 2018]: 224 xj {Removed from DOAJ since 1/1/24]: 119 xm [Malware and certifi ..read more

So far, 19,775 journals scanned (519 remain), with 1,396,763 articles in 2023, 1,425,512 in 2022. Of these journals, 6,545 have fees; 13,230 do not (diamond or platinum OA). Some 3,021 will be rechecked, including all of those below (except possibly xj) and others where it seems likely that 2023 issues have appeared since the first scan. Barring big issues, this scan will be done this week, followed by some massaging and two or three weeks for the rescan. Special cases bi [Inactive: no articles since 2021]: 481 xd [Defunct: no articles since 2018]: 215 xj [No longer in DOAJ]: 114 xm [Malware ..read more

Journals scanned so far: 18,400. Articles: 1,317,670 for 2023, 1,348,422 for 2022. 6 065 have fees of some sort; 12,335 do not (diamond OA). I’ll have to look at 2,868 again, including all of the ones below. Special Cases bi [Inactive: no articles since 2021]: 449 xd [Defunct, no articles since 2018]: 205 xj: [Apparently removed from DOAJ since 1/1/2024]: 97 xm [Malware and certificate problems]: 836 xn [Not an OA journal, including ones that now require login]: 19 xx [Unavailable or unworkable]: 818 The scan will not be finished next week, but, barring unforeseen problems with real life, it ..read more

MODIFIED LATER ON 3/24: It would appear that a whole bunch of “refusals” from one Indonesian university were a temporary outage–so I’m resaving this with modified, and better, numbers MODIFIED 3/31: This was, of course, week twelve, not week thirteen. ————————- 17,000 journals scanned, with 1,285,602 2023 articles and 1,315,137 2022 articles. While 5,619 journals have fees, 11,381 are diamond: no fees. Some 2,556 will need to be rechecked. A tough week in some ways, as you may see if you compare special case numbers with the previous week (which I am deliberately not going to do!) Special case ..read more

MODIFIED LATER ON 3/24: It would appear that a whole bunch of “refusals” from one Indonesian university were a temporary outage–so I’m resaving this with modified, and better, numbers 17,000 journals scanned, with 1,285,602 2023 articles and 1,315,137 2022 articles. While 5,619 journals have fees, 11,381 are diamond: no fees. Some 2,556 will need to be rechecked. A tough week in some ways, as you may see if you compare special case numbers with the previous week (which I am deliberately not going to do!) Special cases bi [no articles since 2021]: 424 xd [no articles since 2018]: 191 xj [appar ..read more

Total to date: 14,100 journals, with 1,207,684 2023 articles and 1,226,734 2022 articles. 5,436 have fees; 8,664 do not. 1,952 will be rescanned. Special cases bi [No activity since 2021]: 358 xd [No activity since 2018]: 173 xj [Removed from DOAJ since 1/1/2024]: 57 xm [Malware/certificate issues]: 527 xn [Not an OA journal]: 12 xx [Unavailable/unworkable]: 550 Timing I reduced my daily goal from 225 to 200 journals this week to get started on some other issues. The coming week, I’ll reduce it to 150 to make real headway elsewhere–and 100 (or zero) if needed. With luck, the “other issues” w ..read more

12,265 journals scanned (about 8,030 left!), with 1,120,731 articles in 2023 and 1,142,072 in 2022. 4,784 have fees of some sort; 7,841 do not (diamond OA). 1,832 will be rescanned, for various reasons. Special cases bi (inactive since 2021): 309 xd (dead/defunct): 153 xj (no longer in DOAJ): 50 xm (malware or certificate problems): 494 xn (not OA): 11 xx (couldn’t open or too problematic to use): 514 Perhaps worth noting that xx included one set of university medical journals that just didn’t respond: chances are, they’ll come back (as will most xx journals with any luck ..read more

A good week, with 1,575 journals scanned–but a less-good week, with big clumps of malware (primarily Indonesian). Of the 11,575 journals scanned so far, 4,333 have fees and 6,742 do not. These journals show 1,035,935 articles in 2023 and 1,055,504 in 2022–subject to further refinement, of course. 1,622 will need rescanning. Special cases bi: Inactive: 267 xd: Dead: 131 xj: No longer in DOAJ: 29 xm: Malware/certificate problems: 445 xn: Not an OA journal: 9 xx: Unavailable/unworkable: 439 ..read more

While there will be a post for week eight on Sunday, I thought this milestone deserved a special post: 10,150 journals scanned; 10,144 to go. The true halfway journal–that is, 10,147 scanned with 10,147 to go–is Optica (Optica Publishing Group, United States), while the 10,150th is a slightly more prolific title from the same publisher: Optics Express. So far, I count 983,026 2023 articles and 1,004,737 2022 articles (of course, neither count is final–what with 1,450 journals that need to be rechecked). 4,039 have fees; 6,111 do not. Special Cases bi (Inactive): 248 xd (Defunct): 124 xj (Remo ..read more